THE 



EVIDENCE 

OP 

CHRISTIANITY, 

BERIYEB PROM ITS 

NATURE AND RECEPTION 



BY J. B. SUMNER, M.A. 

PREBENDARY OF BURHAM ; YICAR OF 3IAPLEBURHAM, OXON. ; ANB 
LATE FELLOW OF ETON COLLEGE. 



PHILADELPHIA : 

PUBLISHED BY A. FINLEY, 
N. E. Corner of Chesnut and Fourth Streets. 
Clark & Baser, Printers. 

1825. 



PREFACE. 



The idea, which the following pages are design- 
ed to illustrate, is briefly this : that a religion like 
the Christian could never have existed, unless it had 
been introduced by divine authority. It could not 
have been invented: it would not have been re- 
ceived. 

i This line of argument has at least one advantage ; 
at the same time that it proves, if well founded, 
that the religion is true, it shows also what the re- 
ligion is. 

I am by no means confident, however, that the 
field into which I have been led in pursuit of the 
idea above mentioned, is sufficiently unoccupied to 
justify this addition of another volume to the num- 
berless treatises already existing on the evidences 
of Christianity. But I am disposed to imagine, 
that aii attack upon unbelief, or a confirmation of 



iv PREFACE. 

faith, can never be superfluous. Many books are 
in constant circulation, and almost universally read, 
in which the Scriptures are passed by as if they 
had no existence, or tacitly assumed to be an inven- 
tion of priestcraft, supported by state policy. The 
most popular historian of our own country is not 
likely to produce a different impression ; and a very 
important portion of ancient- history is still chiefly 
known through the medium of a writer who pro- 
fessedly treats the origin and progress of Chris- 
tianity as an event which need excite no more won- 
der than the rise of Mohammedanism. Not to men- 
tion, that the rude and direct assaults upon Revela- 
tion, which, for some years past, have been con- 
stantly issuing from the press, can hardly fail to 
have some effect in keeping the minds unsettled, 
even of a class above that for which they are avow- 
edly written and designed. 

In fact, though there is just cause for believing 
that real religion never flourished more in any age 
or country than at the present time in Britain, yet 
it is certain that a vast number of persons reject it, 
either avowedly or virtually ; and that even more, 
convinced by the evidences, still hover on the con- 
fines or lie loosely on the surface, and enter very 



PREFACE. 



y 



little into the vital principles of the gospel. Neither 
of these facts can excite surprise, when we consider 
how many young persons are thrown upon the 
world, and plunged in the busy concerns of life, 
with no other knowledge of the claims of Chris- 
tianity on their belief, than that it is by law esta- 
blished as the national religion ; and with no fur- 
ther acquaintance with its nature, than that it for- 
bids the practices to which they are attached, and 
which most of those around them follow. 

Now, I am far from asserting, that an intimate 
knowledge of the historical evidences of the Gospel 
is necessary to faith. Happily there is evidence of 
the truth of our religion, which does not arise from 
external testimony^ and multitudes, before they have 
ever felt the want of external testimony, are impress- 
ed with this evidence, which sets them above doubt 
and beyond the reach of scepticism. Nothing leads 
them to hesitate respecting the certainty of that 
which they find generally confessed, and publicly 
taught, and which from their infancy they have been 
accustomed to venerate. And this confidence is sup- 
ported and confirmed by the impressions resulting 9 
from habitual acquaintance with the Scriptures, and 
A 2 



PREFACE, 



the irresistible conviction which they are calculated 
to fix upon the devout and humble mind. 

Others, however, are differently constituted, and 
differently circumstanced. It strikes them at once, 
how much that is contradictory to the usual expe- 
rience of the world is involved in the Scripture his- 
tories. It strikes them, that in the naked delinea- 
tion of the history of Jesus Christ there is nothing 
to command immediate assent 5 and it is notorious, 
that many persons, in different countries, have ad- 
vanced pretensions like his, with various degrees of 
success. Then in the mysterious doctrines of the 
Gospel there is much that the mind, which has once 
been allowed to hesitate, is very ill disposed to re- 
ceive, till the authority has been confirmed by irre- 
sistible evidence. Even with many who have not 
given themselves up to avowed scepticism, and who 
have a sincere respect for Christianity in the ab- 
stract from the benefits which it confers upon soci- 
ety, vague notions of uncertainty in its evidence, 
and of difficulties in its doctrines, float upon the 
mind, and keep it in a most unprofitable state of 
hesitation. In persons thus circumstanced, before 
any thing like Christian faith can exist, the origin 
of Christianity must be examined more narrowly, 



PREFACE. 



vii 



and clearly seen to be divine. And these are the 
persons whose case I have particularly in view in 
the present Treatise. Every Christian is exhorted 
in Scripture to know why he believes ;# and consi- 
dering the authority which Christianity bears upon 
its frontj and considering the weight which that 
authority has derived from the character of those 
whom it has satisfied, and from the general assent 
of the civilized world ; — it surely is reasonable to 
expect, that as many refuse or delay their assent, 
they should know why they do not believe. I have 
therefore endeavoured to put my argument in such 
a shape, as may give a substantive form both to be* 
lief and unbelief. 

* 1 Pet, iii. 15, 



* 



CONTENTS* 



CHAPTER I. 

Page 

Introductory. On the Origin of the Chris- 
tian Religion . . . .' .13 

Preliminary remarks. 

1. Indisputable proofs of the time when Christi- 

anity was first preached . . . .18 

2, On the actual existence of Jesus . ,21 

CHAPTER II. 

Opposition of Christianity to the Opinions pre- 
vailing AMONG THE JEWS. . . . . 25 

State of opinions in Jerusalem when Jesus ap- 
peared. 

1. Character of the Messiah expected by the Jews 29 

2. Authority over the Mosaic law assumed by Jesus 33 

3. Admission of Gentiles to the religion of Jesus 39 

4. Destruction of Jerusalem foretold by Jesus . 45 
Recapitulation .... . . 49 

CHAPTER III. 

Originality of the Christian Doctrines . 54 

1. Basis of the Christian, Religion, the alienation of 

mankind from God 56 

Jews and Gentiles alike unprepared to receive 
this . . . . X . 60 



X CONTENTS. 




2. Redemption of mankind by Jesus, an original idea 


Page 


both to Jews and Gentiles . 


69 


3. Peculiar obstacles, from the crucifixion of Jesus 


78 


CHAPTER IV. 




Connexion of Christianity with the Jewish 




History and Scriptures .... 


84 


1. Sacrifice of Isaac 


84 


Brazen Serpent ...... 


85 


3. Institution of the Passover .... 


85 


4. Law of Moses called a covenant . . • 


86 


5. Appointment of High Priest .... 


86 


6. Covenant ratified by sprinkling of blood 


86 


Jews unaccustomed to application of types 


87 


Argument arising from their fulfilment . . 


88 




95 


Time and place of birth of Jesus, predicted 


95 


Appearance of John Baptist .... 


96 


Character and death of Jesus described 


96 


Argument from the accomplishment of prophecies 98 


CHAPTER V. 




Phraseology of Christian Scriptures 


102 


Original phrases. Glad tidings, or Gospel. Grace. 




Salvation. Righteousness. The flesh. Faith. 102, $c. 


Argument deduced from these terms 


112 


CHAPTER VI. 




Agreement of Christian Scriptures with sub- 




sequent Experience ..... 


113 


I. Persecution foretold . . . . : . 


116 



CONTENTS. XI 

Page 

II. Divisions foretold 125 

III. Progress and reception of the religion described 129 

IV. Prophetic Parables 137 

V. Excellence of the parables . 141 

CHAPTER VII. 

Wisdom manifested in the Christian Scrip- 
tures . . . . . . 144 

1. Reserve as to the future world . . . 146 
Compared with Mohammed .... 148 

2. Human liberty and Divine prescience . .154 
Compared with Mohammed . . . .156 

3. Confident assertions of Jesus .... 157 

4. Directions respecting prayer, fasting, alms . 160 
Compared with Mohammed .... 161 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Originality of the Christian Character . 164 

I. Humility exemplified in St. Paul . . . 166 
Argument deduced from this .... 169 

II. Peculiar benevolence enforced in the Gospel . 173 

III. Meekness and patience prescribed . .177 

IV. Suitableness of these qualities to their object 182 

CHAPTER IX. 
Reasonableness of Christian Doctrines . 187 

I. Condemnation of mank ind considered . .189 

II. Christian doctrine of redemption considered . 202 

III. Indirect results of the incarnation . .211 

CHAPTER X. 
First Promulgation of Christianity . . 216 
h Account given in the Acts of the Apostles . Q17 



\ 



xii 



CONTENTS. 



Page 

Proceedings in heathen countries . . . 223 

Probability of miraculous interference . . 229 

Objections from experience considered . . 234 

Unbelief of the Jewish people, considered . . 241 

CHAPTER XI. 

First Reception of Christianity . . . 246 

Change of moral character, in first Christians . 246 

Examples, from their earliest writings . . 253 
The principles on which their character was 

founded 256 

Difficulty of producing such a change . . 267 

Evidence resulting from it . . . . 271 
That evidence strengthened by the persecution to 

which they were exposed .... 272 

CHAPTER XII. 

Effects of Christianity . . . . . 276 
Some considerations on the partial effect of 

Christianity on human happiness . . . 277 

Its positively beneficial effects .... 280 

1. It consoles affliction 282 

2. It provides for establishing religious principles 284 

3. It provides for improving the moral and intellec- 
tual character of mankind .... 292 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Conclusion . 302 

Recapitulation . . . . . . 302 

1. Nature of the Evidence of Christianity . . 304 

2. Agrees with the general character of divine go- 

vernment 306 

3. Suitable to a probationary state . . . 307 



\ 



THE 

EVIDENCE, 



CHAPTER I. 

Introductory.' — On the Origin of the Christian 
Religion. 

A book is put into my hands, professing to give 
an account of a revelation from God. I find this re- 
velation established as the religion of my country, 
under the name of Christianity. I find the laws 
acknowledging it, and taking cognizance of any very 
gross insults against its divine authority. I find a 
maintenance for ministers who teach, explain, and en- 
force it, making part of the constitution of the State, 
I see a great variety of persons, who do not receive 
or claim any participation in that public maintenance, 
also endeavouring to extend a belief in its truth, and 
an observance of its precepts. 

A slight acquaintance with the nature of Christi- 
anity, assures me also, that such a religion is expedi- 
ent for the public good. It teaches men to consider 
themselves as placed under the eye of their Creator, 

B 



14 



ON THE ORIGIN OF 



It declares the importance of human conduct and cha- 
racter to be such, as to have occasioned the interfer- 
ence of a Divine Person, called the Son of God. It 
demands a very pure morality. It regulates the lives 
and habits of men by sanctions so awful, as must af- 
fect and influence all that are capable of extending 
their view to things future and invisible. 

These circumstances, however, though they may 
justly be considered as presumptions in favour of the 
truth of Christianity, are not decisive. It is a pre- 
sumption in its favour, that our ancestors should have 
made Christianity a part of the law of the land ; be- 
cause we are entitled to suppose that they had reason 
for what they did. It is in its favour, that they should 
have provided for its support and extension ; and that 
so many persons should take an evident interest in its 
success. It is still more in its favour, that its doc- 
trines should be beneficial to the morality and happi- 
ness of men. But then I find some of these circum- 
stances on the side of other religions also. The an- 
cient inhabitants of Europe had a religion prior to 
Christianity, which they maintained at a considerable 
expense of statues, sacrifices, temples, and ministers. 
They defended this religion carefully. Their wisest 
men, though they perceived its absurdity, still sup- 
ported it, on the express ground of its utility to the 
state. Again, the religion of Mohammed is establish- 
ed over an immense and populous region; and has its 
priests and temples, publicly acknowledged and main- 
tained. The Hindoos and the Chinese have a religion 



THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 15 

and a priesthood, whose power over their people is 
not inferior to that of the ministers of Christ. In fact, 
no civilized country exists without some form of re- 
ligion; the members of which, whatever it be, are no 
less vehement in its support, and often no less con- 
firmed in its belief, than the professors of Christianity. 
The morality, indeed, of these religions, is very dif- 
ferent from that of the Gospel, and their effect upon 
the mind and upon the happiness of their votaries very 
different. But as the moral state of different nations, 
independent of religion, is also unequal; the purer 
morality and general superiority of the Gospel may, 
it is possible, have arisen from the exercise of a nobler i 
intellect, and a happier combination of circumstances, 
and are not alone a sufficient reason for my embrac- 
ing it as divine. England has a better religion than 
Turkey or Hindostan. But then England has made 
a far greater advance in arts and sciences ; has a wider 
field of literature ; is in every respect a more enlight- 
ened country; and its superior religion may be no 
more a result of divine interference, than its better 
constitution and more equal laws. Besides which, 
the Gospel, in proportion as it is purer than the re- 
ligions of Brahma or Mahommed, demands greater 
sacrifices; and requires, therefore, to be confirmed by 
a proportionate force of evidence. And I cannot but 
be aware, that although this religion is countenanced 
by the State, and defended by the laws, and cordially 
believed by many; yet it is also disbelieved by many, 
neglected by more, and openly assaulted by some. i 



16 



ON THE ORIGIN OF 



So that it appears, on a cursory view, to be placed hi 
much the same circumstances, as most other religions 
which have prevailed in different countries and differ- 
ent ages of the world. 

For these reasons, I must have a stronger ground 
for believing Christianity, than that it is the establish- 
ed religion of my own age and country. This fact, 
together with its obvious utility to the public morals, 
may secure my respect to its institutions, and my 
compliance with its forms : Socrates and Cicero offer- 
ed sacrifice to the deities of their ancestors. But if I 
am required to go further, I must inquire deeper, and 
have a surer foundation of my faith. And the slight- 
est consideration shows me, that I am bound to make 
this inquiry ; and that if I neglect Christianity unex- 
amined, I neglect it at my peril. 

I must, therefore, trace back this revelation to its 
origin. It may not have had the origin to which it 
pretends. But it must have had some origin. As 
there are those who deny its origin to have been di- 
vine, what other account is given of its existence? 

The common account is of a general nature; and 
speaks of the New Testament as an imposture, a fic- 
tion: and so, if not true, it must have been. But an 
imposture must have had designers: a fiction must 
have been framed. Who and what were those who 
framed it? And how did they succeed? how prevail 
to get their fabrication recognised? 

Pursuing this inquiry, I find that the origin of 
Christianity, as declared in its own records, is briefly 



THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION", 



17 



this. About eighteen hundred years ago, a person, 
born in one of the provinces of Judea, went through 
that country, and attracted attention by the exercise 
of miraculous powers. He affirmed, that he had de- 
scended from heaven, to recal men from ignorance and 
sinfulness, and to bring them to the knowledge and 
service of their Creator. He instructed those who 
flocked to him in the rules of life which they should 
obey, and the dispositions they should cultivate; and 
promised to all, who should believe and obey him, 
everlasting happiness in a future state. After a short 
period of time, probably three years, passed in this 
manner, he was put to death, at the instigation of the 
chief persons among the Jews; but not until he had 
predicted this event, and declared it to be an essential 
part of the mystery of his incarnation ; and not until 
he had attached to himself a certain number of dis- 
ciples, and taken measures for their disseminating and 
establishing in -the world the religion which he had 
introduced and founded. 

Now, is there any certainty that this indeed took 
place at the time and in the manner which the his- 
tory records? Antichristian writers, I observe, affect 
to throw an air of obscurity over the first appearance 
and promulgation of the religion. One of them as- 
serts, that the system was gradually formed out of 
what he calls the chaos and anarchy of the three first 
centuries. And others generally assume, that the tes- 
timony to the introduction of Christianity is confined 



IS 



ON THE ORIGIN OF 



to the Church itself, which must not be solely trusted 
in its own cause. 

The grand point is, to obtain something definite : 
we cannot lean upon a shadow. At what time did the 
religion of Jesus Christ supersede what was believed 
before? We know that it exists, and is established, 
now ; but we know likewise, that it did not always 
exist; that it gradually took the place which had been 
occupied by Judaism and Paganism, and flourished 
upon their ruins. 

There is, however, indisputable testimony, that the 
religion w^as first preached and received at a time 
which exactly corresponds with the death of its Foun- 
der, as related in the Scriptures. We have no occa- 
sion, on this head, to appeal to the Church: that is, 
to rely on Christian writers alone. The foreign and 
collateral testimony fails in no point where it can be 
reasonably demanded. It has, indeed, been the fa- 
shion to complain of the silence or inattention of the 
contemporary historians, as to what has since assumed 
such vast importance. But the truth is, that they are 
not silent. They are not, indeed, full: but they tell 
us all that we require, and all which they could be 
expected to tell. As early as the time of Claudius, 
who died within twenty years of the crucifixion, 
Christians had occasioned some confusion, by preach- 
ing, and prevailing on men to quit the worship of the 
heathen gods; and they were so numerous, that Clau- 
dius judged it most advisable to check them, by ordering 
what he thought would be most effectual for this pur- 



THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 



1!) 



pose, and forbidding their religious meetings. This 
we learn from the Roman historian of the age.* Ano- 
ther contemporary annalist relates, that about thirty 
years after the death of Christ, his disciples at Rome 
were numerous enough to be well known and distin- 
guished in that populous city, and generally styled 
Christians, after the name of their Founder; who, 
he adds, was put to death in the reign of Tiberius, by 
his Procurator, Pontius Pilate. The same author pro- 
ceeds to describe the sufferings which they endured 
from the tyranny of Nero, who endeavoured to divert 
from himself the accusation of having set fire to his 
capital, and to fix the stigma upon them.t 

Another sort of collateral evidence, equally unex- 
ceptionable, is furnished by a long epistle of Clement, 
Bishop of Rome, which was addressed by him to the 
Corinthian Christians, about fifty years after the death 
of Jesus: the whole tenor of which proves, that the 
society of Christians had been long established in that 
city. Several letters of another bishop, Ignatius, dated 
twenty-five years later, confirm the same point, with 
regard to many Christian communities in Asia. About 
the same period we have similar testimonies from 
Pliny, proconsul under Trajan, who describes the 

* See Suetonius in Claud. 25. The emperor, he says, banished 
the Jews from Rome ; who, impulsore Chresta, made continual tu- 
mults. Christianity passed at first among' the heathens for a sort 
of Judaism ; a mistake easily accounted for : as also the error of 
the common word ^Y t Q-rac l) for the uncommon #£<o-re$. 

f Tacitus, Annal. xv. 44. 



20 



ON THE ORIGIN OF 



Christian Churches, in Bithynia and Pontus, as con- 
sisting; of many of all ages and of both sexes; and calls 
the religion a contagious superstition, which has spread 
not only through cities, but over villages and the 
whole country.* 

To this open testimony it would be easy to add al- 
lusions, more or less clear, from almost every writer 
of note during that period, whose works have remain- 
ed. But my only object was to show, that we have 
firm ground to set out upon. If Christians were known 
as a tangible body in Rome, upon whom a popular 
stigma might be attached, within thirty years of the 
death of Jesus; and if they could be collectively ad- 
dressed in epistles sent to various parts of Greece and 
Asia; and if within seventy years of the same event 
they could be described as " a vast multitude, num- 
bers of every age, of both sexes ;"t it is quite clear 
that the system was not gradually formed, but regular 
and authoritative from the first; and also, that we 
may assume the date to which the origin of Christi- 
anity is commonly referred, as one which is probably 
exact to a year, and even a day ; but which cannot 
possibly be materially wrong. 

2. Having settled this preliminary question, we 
come to another of more importance, respecting the 
author of this religion. Did such a person as Jesus 
exist, or no? Antichristian writers do not seem to 

* Epist. Lib. x. Ep. 91. 

j Ingens multitudo, multi omnis xtatis, utriusque sexus. Pliny. 



THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 



31 



have made up their mind upon this point. Some as- 
sert that he did exist, and some that he did not:* and 
others, strange to say, suppose both.t And the reader, 
into whose hands this treatise may fall, must make up 
his mind one way or other. The religion may be an 
imposture, though Jesus did exist. But it must have 
been an imposture if he did not: if his name were 
merely ascribed, like those of Hercules or Bacchus, 
to adventures which never took place; or, like that 
of Brahma, to doctrines which had no divine au- 
thority. 

On the supposition, however, that no such person 
ever really existed, but was merely an allegorical or 
imaginary personage, or the hero of a romantic tale, 
we must believe what follows; we must believe, that 
a set of persons undertook to persuade their country- 
men that a man had grown up and lived among them- 

* Volney: who accounts for the origin of Christianity in the 
following summary way : " The great Mediator and first Judge was 
expected, and his advent desired, that an end might be put to so 
many calamities. This was so much the subject of conversation, 
that some one ivas said to have seen him; and a rumour of this kind 
was all that was wanting to establish a general certainty. The po- 
pular report became a demonstrated fact. The imaginary being 
was realized; and all the circumstances of mythological tradition 
being in some manner connected with this phantom, the result was 
a regular and authentic history, which from henceforth it was blas- 
phemous to doubt." Such is infidelity ! 

f Paine, in different parts of his "Age of Reason." I should 
not notice such writers as these, if any thing more rational had 
been advanced by others. 



ON THE ORIGIN OF 



selves, and had rendered himself conspicuous by his 
works and doctrines, and had at last been put to death 
at the most solemn and frequented festival of their 
own nation ; — when no such person had ever been ex- 
ecuted > or even seen, or heard of. And more, that 
they did persuade their countrymen to believe all this. 
For the first Christians were converts from the city 
in which the principal scene was laid, and became so 
at the very time when these transactions are said to 
have happened. 

It is disagreeable to speak of the Gospel as an im- 
posture. I am sure, that many, who do not in any 
real sense believe it, would start at the idea of using so 
harsh a term. But we must not deceive ourselves. 
If Jesus did not exist, nay, further, if he were not, 
indeed, the Son of God, it is an imposture. Those, 
therefore, who framed it must have considered how 
they could in the surest and easiest manner deceive 
the world. And certainly they would not begin by 
asserting such a fact as the birth, public ministry, and 
execution of a man who had never been born, or 
known to teach, or put to death at all. Still less 
could a religion, founded on such false assertions, be 
received and prevail, in the very place and from the 
very time when these things were said to have oc- 
curred. 

The only ground, then, which a sceptic can take, 
who means his statements or opinions to be examined, 
is, that Jesus did exist, and that the main circum- 



THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 



23 



stances of his history are true; but that with respect 
to his divinity, or his divine mission, he probably de- 
ceived himself ; but certainly he deceived others, when 
he persuaded them to worship him, and to teach a re- 
ligion under his authority and name. 

I will consider the question on this ground. I will 
take the life, ministry, and public execution of Jesus 
as an historical fact. It*may be denied; as men may 
deny any thing which they do not actually see, or 
hear, or feel. But it has this advantage over every 
other historical fact; that it has been regularly attested 
by persons believing it, and staking all that was most 
valuable to them upon its truth, from the date assign- 
ed to its occurrence to the present hour. It is not ex- 
travagant to say, that no memorial which was ever 
preserved of any past event has a thousandth part of 
the same title to be trusted, as the memorial of the 
life and death of Jesus, which is the Christian religion. 
We may challenge the ingenuity of all the world to 
show how that religion ever came to be set up, 
unless the main facts which it records did actually 
happen. 

That religion was set up; and therefore it must be 
argued, that Jesus, having attracted some attention 
and raised a party in Judaea, during his life, with 
hopes which were cut short by his execution; — his 
followers, from some unknown motive, conspired to 
introduce a new religion, of which Jesus was made 
the author and head; and attributed to him such ad- 



24 



ON THE ORIGIN OF, &C. 



ventures, endowments, and doctrines, as might best 
suit their object. 

It were too much to say, that this was impossible; 
and the phenomenon before us, the existing religion, 
if its origin were not indeed divine, may be accounted 
for on this supposition, and on no other. 



CHRISTIANITY OPPOSED TO, &C. £5 



CHAPTER II. 

Opposition of Christianity to the Opinions pre 
vailing amongst the Jews. 

What objection is there to the supposition stated 
at the conclusion of the preceding chapter, viz. that 
a party of Jews fabricated the religion, which they set 
out to teach in the name and under the authority of 
Jesus? 

Before I can reply to this question, I must consider 
the nature of the religion, and of the people among 
whom it originated, and to whom it was proposed. 
Truth is lost in generalities. Any thing appears pos- 
sible, or even probable, on cursory reflection, in a dis- 
tant country, and when eighteen centuries have inter- 
vened. But whoever is in earnest, and afraid to judge 
wrong in so serious a question, must not lose himself 
in an imaginary period of confusion or anarchy, but 
carry himself back to the time and place where the 
religion originated which it is supposed so easy to 
fabricate. 

The scene of what is related in the Gospel is laid 
in Jerusalem. And there seems no room to deny that 
the religion of Jesus was there first formed into a sys- 
tem, promulgated, and practised. We shall be assist- 
ed in our judgment, by considering what was the state 



2 6 



CHRISTIANITY OPPOSED TO 



of Jerusalem at this time, as to size, civilization, re- 
ligion, and popular opinion. 

Jerusalem, at this period, was a city of considera- 
ble population. It was also a place of great resort, for 
those especially whose minds had been in any degree 
awakened to the subject of religion. Jews of wealth, 
talents, or learning, who were spread in the course of 
their various pursuits over the continent of Asia, were 
drawn annually to the capital of their nation, for the 
purpose of legitimate worship in the temple of their 
ancestors.* And we incidentally learn, that foreign- 
ers also, who had never embraced the law of Moses, 
but had become acquainted, through the Jewish scrip- 
tures, with a purer faith and a more rational worship 
than prevailed around them, were often attracted to 
the metropolis of the religion which they had learned 
to hold in veneration.! 

We perceive at once, that in a place like this, the 
idea of introducing a new religion is more likely to 
have occurred, than in a country wholly barbarous and 
unenlightened. At the period in question there was 
more probability of such an adventure being under- 
taken in Greece or Italy, than in Britain or Gaul. 
But it does not follow that the attempt was more 
likely to succeed. Men's minds are preoccupied; 
and every novel opinion, before it can establish it- 
self, must dislodge a system already in possession. 

At the period we speak of, three remarkable sects 



Acts, u. 5. 



f Acts, viii. 27. 



JEWISH OPINIONS. 



are known to have existed in Jerusalem, which di- 
vided the attachment of the people, according to their 
several dispositions. 

The Pharisees adhered strictly to the letter of the 
Mosaic law, and even united to it works of superero- 
gation, fasts, abstinences, and mortifying devotions, 
to which they ascribed a high degree of importance. 
Hence they were followed generally by the lower 
classes, who are commonly disposed to venerate aus- 
terity;* and as it may be supposed, by that large ma- 
jority who in all countries are willing to compound 
for the want of spiritual religion by a strict observance 
of prescribed ceremonies. 

The Sadducees denied any future state, any resur- 
rection of soul or body. A lax morality could not 
fail to attend such opinions, especially when main- 
tained in the teeth of the Jewish Scriptures. These 
had fewer followers ; but those were important from 
their rank and opulence. 

The Essenes, though few in number, at least in 
Judea,t were remarkable for the singularity of their 
tenets and habits. They maintained the immortality 
of the soul; but seem to have borrowed their ideas 
upon that subject from Pythagoras, rather than the 
Scripture. They held their public worship separately, 
and in some respects differently, from the rest of their 

* T0/5 o\k.<w§ 7riGuvo]ci}oL Tv[%ccvxn. — Jos. 
\ Josephus says, 4000. The greater part of this peculiar sect 
rrsided in Egypt, See Plin. Nat. Hist. v. 17, 



38 



CHRISTIANITY OPPOSED TO 



i countrymen. They professed the most exemplary 

strictness of morals. But the peculiar characteristic 
of the sect was, an entire community of goods, and 
the austerest celibacy: so that their number was 
chiefly continued by the accession of persons advanced 
in life, who were disgusted with its cares, or wearied 
by misfortune.* 

These are the several opinions which existed in 
Judea, at the time when the gospel was first preached. 
But I do not find that those who introduced that reli- 
gion belonged to any of these sects; they betray no 
attachment to any of their peculiar doctrines; they 
rather oppose them all; not, indeed, systematically, 
like the partizans of a different faction, but wherever 
their tenets are contradictory to enlightened reason, 
or inconsistent with the general good of mankind. 
If not actually biassed towards any sect, we might ex- 
pect, as a matter of precaution, that they would seek 
the countenance and support of some who were in 
possession of public favour; would try to engage on 
their side some of those who were opulent, or power- 
ful, or respected in their nation. But the plan which 
they pursue is directly opposite to all this. Their re- 
ligious precepts are levelled against the self-indulgence 
of the rich; against the pride and hypocrisy of the 
Pharisees; against the immoral and degrading prin- 
ciples of the Sadducees; against the unsocial and le- 
velling tenets of the Essenes. 

* See Joseph. Antiq. xiii. 5 ; xviii. 1. Bell. Jud. ii. 8. Philo 
Frag. p. 632, v. i. Ed. Mangey. 



JEWISH OPINIONS. 29 

In all human appearance, this was to set at work 
against the system which they were introducing a 
counteracting influence which must at once be fatal 
to its progress. Unknown and unprotected men, en- 
tering upon a new and hazardous enterprise, begin by 
arming against themselves all the learning, power, 
wealth, and influence existing in their country. 

This is an important point, and requires to be ac- 
curately examined. The Gospel was engrafted upon 
the Jewish religion. The Jews, we know, derived 
from their peculiar religion very peculiar sentiments ; 
certain national opinions and prejudices were univer- 
sally received among them, in which every sect agreed. 
Did the Christian religion agree or disagree with these 
prevailing opinions? because, upon this question the 
chance of its being a Jewish invention, or of its being 
embraced by any of that people, will materially de- 
pend. 

I. There is no doubt, that at the time when Jesus 
appeared, the Jews were expecting a prophet, or a 
king, or a deliverer, known from their ancient writ- 
ings under the title of the Messiah. This expectation 
had even extended through other parts of the East. 
Such a belief is implied in the inquiry of the Magi 
who came to Jerusalem to pay homage, asking^ 
"Where is he that is born King of the Jews?" We 
read, too, of "devout men," who were " waiting for 
the consolation of Israel." All were desiring "one 
who should come." He was anticipated, moreover, 
under the very title which Jesus assumed. The Sa= 
c 2 



30 CHRISTIANITY OPPOSED TO 

maritan woman spoke the general opinion, when she 
said, I know that Messias cometh, which is called 
Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.* 
And the impression produced by the appearance of 
Jesus is represented as this; " Come, see a man which 
told me all that ever I did : is not this the Christ? 
When Christ cometh, will he do greater things than 
these ?"t 

Now, suppose the case assumed : that a person, with 
no divine commission, resolved to claim to himself 
the character of the expected Messiah. He would 
lay hold of the popular hope of such an appearance, 
as the most reasonable chance of his success. Such 
an expectation would be likely to go far towards ac- 
complishing the event to which it referred.! There- 
fore he would ascertain what sort of deliverer his na- 
tion anticipated, and assimilate himself as nearly as 
possible to that character. 

But it happens very unaccountably, that the actual 
character of Jesus was decidedly opposed to the ex- 
pected character of the Messias. They looked for a 
conqueror, a temporal king: and had been accustomed 
to interpret in this sense all the prophecies which 
foretold his coming. And whether we suppose Jesus 

* John, iv. 25. f John, iv. 29. 

t Volney treats this asiso certain and important, that he thinks 
:ittle else necessary in order to account for the origin of Christi- 
anity, than to be able to assert, that a mediator or deliverer was 
expected, who should relieve the nation from its present calami- 
ties. See the quotation, p. 21. 



JEWISH OPINIONS. 



31 



to have been impostor or enthusiast, this is the cha- 
racter which he would naturally assume. If he were 
an enthusiast, his mind would have been filled with 
the popular belief, and his imagination fired with the 
national ideas of victory and gloiy. If he were an 
impostor, the general expectation would coincide with 
the only motive to which his conduct can be attri- 
buted, ambition, and the desire of personal aggran- 
dizement. 

How, then, can we explain his rejecting from the 
first, and throughout his whole career, all the advan- 
tage which he might have derived from the previous 
expectation of the people, and even his turning it 
against himself and his cause? Why should he, as a 
Jew, have interpreted the prophetic Scriptures differ- 
ently from all other Jews? Why should he, as an im- 
postor, have deprived himself of all personal benefit 
from his design? 

We are told, that when he perceived that they would 
come, and "take him by force to make him a king, 
he departed again into a mountain himself alone. 5 '* 
That his constant declaration was, " My kingdom is 
not of this world."i That being asked by the Pha- 
risees, "When the kingdom of God should come: he 
answered, The kingdom of God comet h not with 
ohservation.% Neither shall they say, lo here, and 



* Luke, vi. 15 f John, xviii, 36. 

4 Or, outward show, Marg. Mercc trctgxJvpqreas. 



CHRISTIANITY OPPOSED TO 



lo there; for, behold, the kingdom of God is within 
you."* 

The writers of his history were well aware how 
entirely the real appearance of Jesus differed from all 
previous expectations of the Messiah. They describe 
him as losing no opportunity of removing these popu- 
lar notions from the minds of his followers. "From 
that time forth began Jesus to shoio unto his dis- 
ciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suf- 
fer many things of the elders and chief priests and 
scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third 
day. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, 
saying, Be it far from thee, Lord; this shall not 
be unto thee.^f It was incompatible with their notions 
of a Messiah, that such a fate should befal him. And 
Peter's mind was not yet weaned from his national 
prepossessions. So, likewise, after that considerable 
experience of his doctrine and ministry might have 
established juster views, the "mother of two of the 
disciples requested that her two sons might sit, the 
one on his right hand, and the other on his left, in 
his kingdom"% Even to the latest discourse which 
is recorded, the idea still remained ; and " his disci- 
ples asked of him, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore 
again the kingdom unto Israel?"^ 

Here, then, is conduct which is inexplicable 
on the supposition of imposture. Opinions are com- 



* Luke, xvii. 20. 
% Matt. xx. 21. 



f Matt. xvi. 21, 22. 
§ Acts. i. 6. 



JEWISH bPINIONS. 



33 



bated, which would have been peculiarly advantage- 
ous to the design; and a character is maintained, 
which was alike self-denying and unpopular. And 
the natural conclusion on this head is strengthened by 
historical fact. Several impostors did appear in Judea, 
relying upon the general expectation ; and they uni- 
formly claimed to themselves temporal power and au- 
thority. Theudas, whose insurrection is mentioned in 
the Acts of the Apostles, appears by the way in which 
he is there spoken of, to have founded a political disturb- 
ance upon some high pretensions. Of him, however, 
we know little. But Bar Cochab, in the reign of 
Hadrian, assumed the title of Me son of a star, in al- 
lusion to the ancient prophecy of Balaam, and pre- 
tended to be the Messias. He collected an army, and 
was crowned by the Jews. Moses Cretensis did the 
same in the days of Theodosius. Another, named 
Julian, at a later period, was set over the Jewish ar- 
mies to destroy the Christians ; and after he had ob- 
tained some temporary success, the people owned him 
as the Messias.* These instances are sufficient to 
show what sort of Messiah the nation expected, and 
was ready to receive; and also prove what manner of 
persons impostors were, and what character they were 
inclined to appear in. 

II. Proceeding from the title assumed by Jesus, to 
the authority which he exercised, I read this, among 
other sentences — " The law and the prophets were 

* See Kidder's Demonstration of the Messias, 



34 



CHRISTIANITY OPPOSED TO 



until John : since that time the kingdom of God is 
preached." This was a bold declaration. He was 
come to make an entire change in their religion. It 
was saying, in effect, — you have obeyed the ceremo- 
nies of the law, and you have honoured the admoni- 
tions of the prophets for fifteen hundred years. From 
henceforth a new authority is to be paramount. I am 
come to supersede or to confirm them. 

Now no feeling could be stronger in any nation, or 
better founded, than the veneration of the Jews for the 
Mosaic law. It was impossible that they should not 
hold this in the devoutest esteem, connected as it was 
with their very existence as a people. The account 
of its origin, which had come down to them from their 
ancestors; its singularity; the effect which that singu- 
larity had produced, in establishing a wide separation 
between themselves and other nations; above all, the 
important results which they expected from obeying 
it, as entitling them to the favour and protection of 
God: all these circumstances united to render that at- 
tachment to their national law, which is common 
among every people, inconceivably strong in the case 
of the Jews. 

But here, in Jesus, or in the authors of Christianity, 
whoever they are supposed to be, are Jews who have 
none of this natural partiality. Professing the fear of 
God beyond other men; acknowledging him as having 
sanctioned the law given by Moses; they yet dare 
to pass judgment on his ancient institutions.* Jesus 

* Matt. xix. 8. 



JEWISH OPINIONS. 



85 



is made to intimate, that the reign of the ceremonial law 
is over: and he claims the right of introducing new ex- 
planations of the moral law. He openly condemns the 
glosses of tin's law; erroneous indeed, but generally- 
received : he extends some of its provisions; he elu- 
cidates its remote intentions, and even repeals its 
enactments. The listening multitude were astonished 
at the authority with which he uttered his edicts: — 
" Ye have heard that it has been said by them of old 
time, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: but 
I say unto you, that ye resist not evil." He goes 
on to condemn existing opinions through many other 
instances; and sweeps off, by a single sentence, many 
false interpretations which long usage had authorized; 
declaring, " Ye know not what that meaneth; I will 
have mercy and not sacrifice: the Sabbath was made 
for man, and not man for the Sabbath." The Jews 
of that day knew not what this meant ; they con- 
tradicted it in principle and in practice. Born and 
bred among Jews, how came he to throw off Jewish 
prejudices? Educated in the midst of prevailing errors., 
whence did he derive the wisdom which rejected 
them? Accustomed to the rule, love thy neighbour, 
and hate thine enemy, how came he to say, " Love 
your enemies, do good to them that hate you?" 
When his countrymen were convinced of the legality 
and sanctity of vows, how came he to say, " Swear 
neither by heaven, nor by the earth, nor by Jeru- 
salem ? Swear not at all." Accustomed to the law of 
retaliation, a law sanctioned by national prescription 



o6 



CHRISTIANITY OPPOSED TO 



as well as by the natural bent of the human heart, 
how came he to say, " Resist not evil;" and to teach 
others to say, " overcome evil with good?" Accus- 
tomed to the ceremonious observance of the Sabbath, 
how came he to seize that truth, so agreeable to our 
enlightened reason, but so contradictory to the pre- 
vailing usage of his country, " It is lawful to do good 
on the Sabbath day?" 

The authority which Jesus exercised over the law, 
he equally claimed over the interpreters of the law. 
We learn from various incidental notices, how highly 
the Scribes and Pharisees were esteemed among all 
those over whom religion possessed any hold. They 
" sat in Moses's seat,* and partook of the reverence 
paid to the memory of the original lawgiver. The 
subtle question, " Have any of the rulers or of the Pha- 
risees believed on him?" evidently shows, that if he 
could have obtained their countenance, or even have 
escaped their hostility, he would have gained no slight 
accession to his cause. But it is strange, that neither 
the habits of his country and of his education impress- 
ed him with veneration for these teachers, nor did his 
interest lead him to pretend it. He alone, of all his 
countrymen, saw through the veil of sanctity which 
they spread over their corruptions. He alone dared 
openly to rend it off, and expose their hypocrisy. 
" Woe unto yon, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites J 
for ye pay tithe of mint, and anise, and cummin, 



* Matt. xxih*. 



JEWISH OPINIONS. 



and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, 
judgment, mercy, and faith : these ought ye to have 
done, and not to leave the other undone. Woe unto 
you, SciHbes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye are 
like unto ivhited sepulchres, which, indeed, appear 
beautiful outwardly , but are ivithin full of dead 
??ie?i's bones, and of all uncleanness. Eveli so ye 
also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but 
within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity."* 

In this manner a way was prepared for the total 
abrogation of the ritual law, and the substitution of a 
new mode of propitiating and worshipping God. This 
is openly declared by Paul to the Jews: "Be it 
known unto you, men and brethren, that through 
this man (Jesus) is preached unto you the forgive- 
ness of sins; and by him all that believe are justified 
from all things, from ivhichye could not be justified 
by the law of Moses."i Who had taught this u He- 
brew of the Hebrews," in contradiction to all that he 
had learnt and professed from his youth, that any 
thing could be wanting to the completeness of the law 
of Moses? So he argued afterwards in his epistle to 
the Romans, "What shrill we say then? That the 
Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have 
attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which 
is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law 

* Matt, xxiii. 23, &c. Whoever would see the argument in its 
just light, must read this whole chapter, 
f Acts, xiii. 



CHRISTIANITY OPPOSED TO 



of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righ- 
teousness. Wherefore? because they sought it not 
by faith, but as it were by the works of the law."* 

One epistle of this writer is almost wholly occupied 
in reproving the Galatians for having relapsed into a 
dependence on that very law, in which he himself had 
been taught from his youth to trust exclusively. The 
course of his argument leads him to insist particularly 
upon the original intent of the law, as tending, in the 
providence of God, to that dispensation which had 
now succeeded it; and about to merge, as it had now 
merged, in that mission of Jesus, by which the pro- 
phetic types of the law were fulfilled, and the divine 
will, in instituting them, more clearly displayed. And 
here he utters sentiments which astonish us not a little, 
as coming from a Jewish pen. That no man is justi- 
fied by the law in the sight of God, is evident. Ji 
man is not justified by the works of the law, but by 
the faith of Jesus Christ; for by the works of the 
law shall no flesh be justified. As many as are of 
the works of the law are under the curse. Where- 
fore the law was our school-master to bring us unto 
ChristA 

Thus does he annul the practice, and contradict the 
belief, of -fifteen hundred years: the belief of his own 
country, that country proverbial for zealous attach- 
ment to their law ; his own belief: for he had been 
once eager beyond others to maintain the ritual, which 



"Rom. is, 30 



j Gal.ii. 16; iii. 20.24. 



JEWISH OPINIONS. 



39 



he now declares to be set aside. Is it easy to explain 
this inconsistency ? 

It appears too throughout the history of the early 
Christian church, that the national feeling upon this 
point was one of the strongest obstacles to the recep- 
tion of the Gospel. The accusation against the Apostles 
was, that they persuaded men to worship God con- 
trary to the law* Even the converts obstinately 
adhered to the ceremonies of their ancestors, and de- 
sired to impose them on the heathen. t Against this 
feeling a few men, themselves of the same country, 
having learnt nothing from foreign intercourse, imbued 
from their infancy with the same prejudices, stand up 
alone; take upon themselves the character of oracles; 
reprove the nationa 1 attachment, and spiritualize the 
literal law. To say nothing of the success which at- 
tended this attempt, how shall we account, on any 
common principles, for the spirit which excited it? 

III. Inquiring further into the agreement of the 
doctrines of Jesus, with the temper of the people to 
whom they were proposed, we find the following de- 
claration. " I say unto you, that many shall come 
from the East and West, and shall sit down with 
(the ancestors you so highly venerate) Abraham, and 
Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But 
the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into 
outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnash- 

* Acts, xviii. 3. 

f Acts, xv. 5 — 31. The deliberations, there recorded, will illus- 
trate the whole of this argument. 



* 



40 



CHRISTIANITY OPPOSED TO 



ing of teeth." " Think not to say, among yourselves, 
we have Abraham to our father ; for I say unto you, 
that God is able of these stones to raise up children 
unto Abraham." " I say unto you, the kingdom of 
God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation 
bringing forth the fruits thereof."* 

These sentences contain evident allusions to a popu- 
lar opinion. And looking into the Jewish character, 
we find that the purpose here announced assails a very 
distinguishing feature of their belief. 

That people conceived, that their law had been pre- 
scribed to them by the Creator of the world, for the 
express purpose of separating them from other nations. 
Certainly it had produced that effect. Without enter- 
ing upon the origin of that law; without going back 
to the primary causes of that peculiarity which distin- 
guished the Jews from all the rest of the world; — we 
cannot deny that the peculiarity existed; because the 
Jews are spoken of by such heathen writers as allude 
to them at all, as being no less singular and exclusive 
in their speculative creed than in their national wor- 
ship. 

In consequence of this marked difference from the 
nations by which they were surrounded ; in conse- 
quence of their belief of the creation and the unity of 
God, and their freedom from the polytheism, and ido- 
latry, which prevailed in all other parts of the world * 
the Jews, to a man, plumed themselves on their peeu- 

* See Matt. viii. 11. Luke, iii. 8. Matt. xxi. 43. 



• 



JEWISH OPINIONS. 



41 



liar claim to the favour and protection of God : a privi- 
lege which their archives gave them reason to believe 
they had enjoyed for fifteen centuries. Other nations 
were distinguished by an appellation which implied 
inferiority, as Gentiles, the common herd of mankind : 
while they were " children of the covenant " a holy 
nation; a peculiar people."* And the internal evidence 
of all Jewish records proves how closely this convic- 
tion was interwoven among all the ideas and customs 
of the country, both civil and religious. 

This then is another point, on which Jesus directly 
opposes the popular prepossession, instead of turning 
it to his advantage. He introduces a new and most 
contrary principle. He begins by warning his coun- 
trymen no longer to imagine themselves the favourites 
of Heaven, who were to enjoy a light which shone the 
brighter from the contrast of surrounding darkness. 
He was come to " enlighten the Gentiles" also. The 
religion, which God was now about to establish, was 
offered to his people Israel first; but not to Israel ex- 
clusively : it was designed for all the nations of the 
earth, that they might become one fold under one 
Shepherd. How strange, and how unpopular as well 
as strange, would it sound in Jewish ears, to hear the 
promise of divine favour, instead of being limited to 
the posterity of Abraham, universally proposed to the 
Greek and to the barbarian, to the Jew and to the Gen- 
tile. And this new doctrine is not confined to a few 



* Acts, iii. 25. Deut. xiv. 2. 



42 



CHRISTIANITY OPPOSED TO 



detached passages; it pervades the whole ministry of 
Jesus ; and forms the leading object, sometimes directly 
and sometimes indirectly, of many of those parables 
which so peculiarly distinguish the Christian writings. 
Under various figures, he warns his nation of the ap- 
proach of that time when they should find themselves 
disinherited, deprived of the peculiar glory of their 
history, and yielding the honour of the service of God 
to nations which they had hitherto despised for their 
idolatry. 

It was extraordinary enough in Jewish impostors to 
think of converting other nations, from which they 
were separated by so broad a line. " The obligation 
of preaching to the Gentiles the faith of Moses, had 
never been inculcated as a precept of the law ; nor 
were the Jews inclined to impose it on themselves as 
a voluntary duty."* Such had never been the national 
practice; but on a sudden the practice of centuries is 
changed; the prejudice of centuries removed; and the 
individuals of this exclusive and unsocial people begin 
to convert other nations, by disinheriting their own 
countrymen. All national prejudices are strong; they 
are strongest when founded on religion ; and if there 
is any truth in history, they were stronger among the 
Jews than among any other people. The authors of 
Christianity were alone without them. 

And yet they were not without them. It appears 
from the history, that many remarkable circumstances 

* Gibbon, i. 453, quarto ed. He passes over the different inten- 
tion of the Gospel, as if it required no explanation. 



JEWISH OPINIONS. 



43 



wrought conviction on the mind of Peter, before he 
was brought to acknowledge, " Of a truth I perceive 
that God is no respecter of persons; but in every 
nation, he that feareth him, and ivorketh righteous- 
ness, is accepted of him."* In the subsequent nar- 
rative, Peter clearly intimates, that he should not have 
ventured to receive Gentiles into the religion which 
he was promulgating, if he had not received indisputa- 
ble proof of the will of God concerning them. " While 
Peter yet spake, the Holy Ghost fell on all them that 
heard the word. And they of the circumcision ivhich 
believed were astonished, (as many as came with Pe- 
ter,) because that on the Gentiles also was poured out 
the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them 
speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answer- 
ed Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these 
should not be baptized which have received the Holy 
Ghost as well as we?" 

If a sceptic refuses his assent to the particulars of 
this narrative, he cannot deny that the framers of it 
were aware of the difficulty which their liberal prin- 
ciples would occasion. It is constantly alluded to as 
forming a subject of dispute between the Jewish and 
Gentile proselytes; and causing a division among 
t-hose who could only prevail, we should have sup- 
posed, by the most unanimous consent and agreement. 
" The apostles and brethren that were in Judea heard 
that the Gentiles also had received the word of God, 



* Acts, x. 34. 



44 



CHRISTIANITY OPPOSED TO 



And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that 
were of the circumcision contended with him, saying, 
thou went est in to men uncircumcised, and didst 
eat with the?n,"* He explained and defended his 
conduct. And when they were, at length, convinced 
by his narrative, the result strikes them as wholly un- 
expected' and surprising, " Then hath God also to 
the Gentiles granted repentance unto life." 

On the part of the majority of the Jews, who op- 
posed the new religion, this admission of the Gentiles 
was all along an occasion of great hostility. The Jews, 
as a body, could not bear to be united with strangers 
in the same sj^uagogue, to hear them instructed out 
of the same Scriptures, and encouraged by the same 
promises. This was as unpopular among them, as the 
abrogation of the Mosaic law. We are told, that 
" when they saw the multitudes, and that almost 
the whole city came together to hear the word of 
God, they were filled with envy, and spake against 
those things which were spoken of Paul, contradict- 
ing and blaspheming. "t On another occasion, "the 
Jews which were of Asia stirred up all the people, 
crying, Men of Israel, help; this is the man that 
teacheth all men every where against the people, and 
the law, and this place; and further, brought Greeks 
also into the temple, and has polluted this holy 
place"% 



* Acts, xi. 1 4 &c. f Acts, xiii. 45, 

± Acts, xxi. 28. 



JEWISH OPINIONS. 



45 



These disputes and outrages, of which we find many 
incidental notices throughout the history and writings 
of the apostles, sufficiently show how strong the cur- 
rent of popular opinion ran; and that the religion of 
Jesus directly opposed it. Placing ourselves, as we 
are reasonably bound to do, in the situation of those 
who first promulgated that religion, must we not be 
surprised that the countrymen of persons so bigoted 
should have conceived the idea of proselyting Gen- 
tiles, a thing not customary with their nation, but at 
variance with all their prejudices? Or even allowing 
that they believed such prejudices to be narrow and 
groundless : — which, however, had a strong foundation 
in the national law, a law impressed with the seal of 
God himself: — would they risk the success of their 
cause by offending universal opinion; would they 
avow a principle which was unpopular, even among 
the friends of the new religion, and gave an additional 
and more plausible ground of opposition to its enemies? 

IV. But Jesus, I observe further, goes beyond the 
mere abolition of the law. He foretels the approach- 
ing destruction of the temple, nay, the city too. This 
prophecy makes a prominent figure in his discourses. 
He only intimates it obscurely, when he says to the 
Samaritan, " Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, 
when neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, 
ye shall worship the Father."* If this stood alone, 
it might pass for a random insinuation. But elsewhere 

* John, iv, 21 . ) 



46 



CHRISTIANITY OPPOSED TO 



it is declared in a manner which cannot be mistaken. 
" As Jesus went out of the temple, one of his disci- 
ples saith unto him, Master, see" what manner of stones 
and what buildings are here. And Jesus answering, 
said unto him: Seest thou these great buildings? 
There shall not be left one stone upon another that 
shall not be cast down."* In another passage it as- 
sumes the form of a more solemn warning: " And 
when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept 
over it; saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at 
least in this thy day, the things which belong unto 
thy peace! But now they are hid from thine eyes. 
For the days shall come upon thee, that thine ene- 
mies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass 
thee round, and keep thee in on every side; and 
shall lay thee even ivith the ground, and thy chil- 
dren within thee ; and they shall not leave in thee 
one stone upon another, because thou knewest not 
the time of thy visitation."! 

Now, if we believe that Jesus said these words, ac- 
cording to the date of his history, and that about forty 
years after he had spoken them, Jerusalem was de- 
stroyed, under circumstances unusually calamitous, 
and the temple in particular overthrown, in spite of 
the endeavours of the conqueror himself to preserve 
it standing; an event which no one ventures to deny: 
we have arrived at the conclusion of our inquiry, and 



* Mark, xiii. 1. 



f Luke, xix. 41, See, 



JEWISH OPINIONS. 



4 7 



Jesus confirmed his divine mission by this displa} 7- of 
supernatural knowledge. 

But I wave, at present, the point of prophecy. I 
am considering the probability of imposture. And 
would the framers of a new religion unnecessarily en- 
cumber their own cause, a cause which certainly want- 
ed no gratuitous impediment, with a prediction as im- 
probable as it was unpopular? 

The threatened destruction of Jerusalem struck at 
the root of all the national prejudices. The Jews con- 
fidently relied upon divine protection. The idea of 
being deserted by that care, and of seeing their city 
in the hands of foreigners, was not more shocking to 
their pride, than contradictory to their faith. Such 
an event was treated by their writers not as a danger, 
or a disgrace, or a calamity, but as an abomination.* 
And we know, from history, that when the catastrophe 
really happened, they obstinately shut their eyes to 
the nearness and extent of the danger; they would 
not believe that Gentile hands would ever be suffered 
to pollute the sanctuary which they so highly revered ; 
and expected to the last that a divine interposition 
would preserve their temple, at least, from the ge- 
neral overthrow. 

Now, would men belonging to a country in which 
the national feeling was so enthusiastically strong, 
partake in no share of that feeling? Indeed, the feel- 
ing is admitted, and avowed: we read, that when the 

* Daniel, xi. 31; xii. 11. Matt. xxiv. 15. to fihhvy [*,<&. 



4S 



CHRISTIANITY OPPOSED TO 



author of this very prophecy beheld the city, he wept 
over it. The writers, therefore, at all events, were 
not ignorant of this feeling, whether they shared in it 
or no; and being aware of it, would they openly out- 
rage it, with no apparent benefit to their undertaking? 
For we do not easily perceive how this prediction was 
to forward their cause. No inference is drawn from 
it; neither is it advanced in the way of argument: it 
stands as a naked assertion ; from which it might have 
been expected that either patriotic enthusiasm, or cal- 
culating prudence, whichever feeling predominated, 
would equally have induced them to abstain. 

But are we sure, that these passages always existed 
where we now find them ? The Christians have for 
many, very many centuries, had the possession of 
these title-deeds of their religion; may they not have 
introduced into them, from time to time, additions of 
this nature, with the desire of propping their cause?* 

We sometimes meet with these insinuations; but 
they admit of a most complete and satisfactory reply. 
Before the destruction of Jerusalem took place, there 
were Christian churches, according to undeniable tes- 
timony, in Smyrna, in Antioch, in Damascus, and all 

* Volney, I suppose, takes this for granted ; because he assumes 
that the national calamities, in consequence of the destruction of 
Jerusalem, made the Jews ready to hail the very phantom of a 
Messiah. I mention this, not because such a writer deserves an 
answer; but to show what a shadow those are following, who think 
that the truth of Christianity must be doubtful, because such and 
such persons have denied it. 



JEWISH OPINIONS. 



49 



the western side of Asia; in Thessalonica, Athens, 
and Corinth, and every part of Greece; in Spain, in 
Italy, and in Gaul ; there were Christians, and the 
writings on which their religion was founded, in the 
principal cities of the civilized world : what magic or 
miracle could insert unauthorized additions in all the 
copies scattered throughout these countries? It is 
favourable to the evidence, though not to the peace of 
Christianity, that the religion has never attained a 
state, which might render such collusion practicable: 
it has always had too many enemies, both public and 
private, to allow of such surreptitious insertions, with- 
out immediate detection. Let us put the question to 
ourselves, how could this be practised now? Yet it 
was never more feasible ; for, in proportion as the 
difficulty is increased, as no doubt it is, by the multi- 
plication of copies, the possibility is also increased by 
the invention of printing, and the facilities of commu- 
nication. 

Such was the unaccountable conduct of the authors 
of the Christian religion. It will not be denied that 
they were Jews. We shall not diminish our difficulties, 
by supposing that a party of Greeks or Syrians enter- 
ed Judea, and affirmed to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 
that a teacher named Jesus had wrought great miracles 
in that city, and had preached new doctrines among 
t)iem, and that they had put him to a public death. 
Such a case will hardly be supposed, independently of 
the exact knowledge of the Jewish history, religion, 



50 



CHRISTIANITY OPPOSED TO 



manners, and sentiments, which is found throughout 
the Christian Scriptures. 

Here, then, were Jews, undertaking to invent a re- 
ligion ; and having the field open before them, they 
were bound to nothing but the general records, tradi- 
tions, and opinions of their age and nation. Yet these 
are the very points which they oppose. 

There existed in their country, men of power and 
authority, who were reverenced as oracles in matters 
of religion. These they make no attempt to conciliate ; 
but expose, without hesitation, to contempt and repro- 
bation. 

Their countrymen expected a temporal prince; and 
were, at the time, suffering under a foreign yoke, 
which they bore with great uneasiness and impatience. 
Yet they persisted in asserting, that the Messiah's 
kingdom was not of this world. 

It was a favourite belief among the Jews, confirmed 
by the whole course of their history, that their nation 
enjoyed the exclusive regard and protection of the 
true God. But the first principle of the Christian 
religion tended to dislodge the Jews from these high 
pretensions, and to admit all other nations indiscrimi- 
nately within the pale of God's church. 

These men had been educated in a belief, that a 
strict compliance with the Mosaic law was prescribed 
by the command of God, as an indispensable condition 
of his favour. Yet they set this law aside, both with 
respect to its supposed efficacy, and its prescriptive 
obligation. 



JEWISH OPINIONS. 



51 



The city of Jerusalem was universally believed to 
be secure under the especial care of God, as being the 
seat of the only true religion ; and its temple conse- 
crated to his peculiar service, by divine institution, 
and ancient usage. Yet these men declared, that total 
destruction was quickly approaching both the temple 
and the city. 

Now we find an equal difficulty meeting us, whether 
we consider the improbability of men bred up in these 
prejudices, becoming, by some unknown process of 
reasoning, superior to them all ; or whether we consi- 
der the impolicy of fabricating a religion which ran 
counter to these well known prepossessions in the 
minds of those to whom it was proposed. Yet they 
did that, which, to every common apprehension, must 
appear most impolitic; and they succeeded in that 
which, according to every known principle, must ap- 
pear equally improbable. 

For it must be remembered, that these were not un- 
founded or unreasonable prejudices, such as a superior 
understanding might be expected to sweep away. The 
hope of a temporal deliverer rested on the interpreta- 
tion of prophecy, which had represented the Messiah 
under the character of a conqueror and a king. The 
reliance on exclusive favour was supported by the ex- 
press word of God, who had avouched the Jews to be 
a holy and peculiar people unto him, and to keep 
his statutes, and his commandments, and to hearken 
unto his voice* The attachment to the Mosaic law 
* Deuter. xxvi. 18, Sec. 



52 



CHRISTIANITY OPPOSED TO 



was founded on its divine appointment: the reputed 
sanctity of the temple on the positive command, that 
worship should be regularly offered there by all who 
professed the Jewish faith. 

Ail this renders any attempt to abolish these opi- 
nions more bold and extraordinary. I do not desire 
to assume the actual authority of those sacred records 
to which the Jews appealed. It is enough for my pre- 
sent purpose, that the Jews had no doubt of that autho- 
rity; they considered it indisputably divine. 

But it is material to remark, though I shall not here 
dwell upon the argument, that from the moment when 
we admit the authors of the Christian religion to be 
what they pretend to be, the instruments of God, all 
that has been hitherto pointed out as so improbable is 
reasonably accounted for, and exactly accords^vith our 
natural expectations. 

It would be very extraordinary if a divine person, 
visiting the world under the character assumed by 
Jesus as the Messiah, should have proposed the pre- 
sent evil world, and not a future and better dispensa- 
tion, as the final object of his coming. Nothing is 
more intelligible to us, than that the Scribes and Pha- 
risees had fallen into the natural error, of substituting 
the form and ceremony for the spirit and reality of 
religion. Nothing was more to be expected, than that 
a final revelation of the will of God to mankind, such 
as the Gospel professes to be, should be intended and 
adapted for the whole human race, rather than a sin- 
gle country. And if so, the abrogation of the Jewish 



JEWISH OPINIONS. 53 

law naturally follows: it had performed its purpose 
with regard to that particular nation, and was little 
calculated for more general reception. Neither was 
it extraordinary that a people, which had been always 
placed under a very peculiar dispensation, should be 
visited with a punishment so signal as the ruin of their 
country, when they persisted in rejecting the message 
of God, and the blessings which he brought with- 
in their power. 

That, therefore, which is altogether inexplicable, if 
we consider the Evangelists to have acted on their 
own authority as the inventors of a new religion, is 
precisely what we should expect and deem most pro- 
bable, if they were indeed the instruments and minis- 
ters of God. 



E 2 . 



54 



ORIGINALITY OF 



CHAPTER III. 
Originality of the Christian Doctrines. 

It was argued in the preceding chapter, that seve- 
ral of the leading doctrines taught by Jesus and his 
followers, are such as could not be expected to ori- 
ginate from Jews. This appears on the surface. The 
Messiah desired by the Jews was conspicuous and 
powerful. The Christian Messiah was humble and 
unknown. The Jewish religion was national and un- 
social : the Christian religion was open and universal. 
The characteristic of the Jewish religion was its cere- 
monial strictness : the characteristic of the Christian 
religion is spirituality. The Jews adored their city : 
Jesus foretold its destruction. So that Christianity 
cannot be said to have grown up out of Judaism, 
though it was grafted upon a Jewish stock ; its charac- 
ter was entirely new, and as much opposed to the com- 
mon principles existing among Jews, as to the habits 
of polytheism. 

If we examine the matter further, we shall find 
much more that is equally surprising. Let me remind 
the reader, that unless Christianity was of divine ori- 
gin, it was a system invented by human ingenuity. 
And the authors who invented it, invented it with a 
view to its being received. If I imagine the case of 



^ THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 55 

persons embracing such a design, I must suppose them 
considering, both what doctrines it were possible for 
them to propose, and what doctrines were likely to 
prove acceptable. 

The success of Mahommed's imposture may be as- 
cribed in a great degree to the simplicity of what he 
taught, and its agreement with human reason, as well 
as with the previous belief of many of his disciples. 
" There is one God," a truth however obscured by the 
errors of idolatry, or lost in the darkness of ignorance, 
such as reason is willing to acquiesce in, and finds 
confirmed by the general appearance of the world. 
" Mohammed is his prophet." In declaring this fun- 
damental part of his creed, he was careful to disturb 
no prejudices, and treated the feelings both of Jews 
and Christians with tenderness. While he asserted his 
own superiority, he gave station and authority in his 
scheme to Adam, to Noah, to Abraham, to Moses, 
and to Jesus. There is nothing in his Koran which 
we are surprised to find there : nothing which may 
not be traced back to existing opinions, or to books 
within his reach. The truth to which he owed his 
success, and to which the long duration of his religion 
must be chiefly attributed, the unity of the godhead, 
he found in the Jewish and Christian Scriptures : he 
had only to pronounce it anew, and to clear away the 
intrusive worship of images and martyrs, saints and 
angels, which had corrupted the church in that dark 
age and country. 

When I subject Christianity to a similar test, no 



56 ORIGINALITY OF 

such result appears. I cannot account for its funda- 
mental doctrines. They are agreeable, indeed, to ex- 
perience and observation: they explain appearances 
which are and always have been universal throughout 
the world: they suit the character and meet the neces- 
sities of mankind ; but they are so far from being on 
that account "as old as the creation," that a moment's 
reflection on what the tenets of the Gospel really are, 
will show them to be in the strictest sense original. 
Like the theory of attraction, they explain phenomena 
long observed and every where observable ; but like 
that theory, the explanation was perfectly novel. It 
is difficult to suppose that unauthorized men, of any 
rank, education, or country, could ever have under- 
taken to promulgate such doctrines. 

" The Son of Man is come to seek and to save 
that which was lost."—" So God loved the world, 
that he gave his only begotten Son, that all that be- 
lieve in Him might not perish, but have everlasting 
life."* 

It is implied in these passages, and others which 
confirm them, that mankind are under the wrath and 
condemnation of God ; who had sent his Son, in the 
form and nature of man, to undergo in his own person 
the penalty incurred by sin, and to proclaim the offer 
of eternal happiness to as many as became his faithful 
and obedient disciples. 

Now, when we reflect on these propositions, and 



* Mat. xviii. 11 ; John, iii. 16. 



THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 



57 



divest our minds of the familiarity derived from long 
acquaintance with them, do they appear such as would 
be likely to occur to any man, or party of men, as the 
foundation of a religious system, which they were in- 
tending to promulgate to the world ? Can we believe 
that imposture, having an unlimited field open before 
it, would choose this ground to expatiate upon? There 
is no reason to think that, as Jews, the authors would 
entertain this view of the state of mankind : still less, 
that supposing such to be their opinions, they would 
make this the groundwork of a religion which was to 
be proposed for acceptance to their countrymen, and 
to all nations. 

These, however, are the doctrines on which the 
religion of Jesus is built. The basis of the whole, is 
the alienation of mankind from God, and their conse- 
quent state of darkness, error, and condemnation. 
This is no after- thought, or comment of a later age : 
it is declared by Jesus himself, in express terms, and 
in various ways. It is declared by him, when he ex- 
plains the object of his coming into the world, and 
applies to himself the prophetic passage of Isaiah, 
" The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath 
anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor; he hath 
sent me to " heal the broken hearted, to preach de- 
liverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to 
the blind; to set at liberty them that are bruised ; 
to preach the acceptable year of the Lord"* He 



*Lnke, iv. 18, 19. 



ORIGINALITY OF 



affirms it expressly, when he says, u I am the way, 
and the truth, and the life : no man cometh unto 
the Father, but by me."* He implies it, when he 
affectionately complains of those who rejected his mes- 
sage, " Ye will not come unto me, that ye might 
have life."! He implies it, when he says, " He that 
hearcth my word, and helieveth on him that sent me, 
hath everlasting life, and shall not come into con- 
demnation ; but is passed from death unto life"! 
He implies it, in ascribing his incarnation to the mer- 
ciful design of God : who " had not sent his Son into 
the world to condemn the world ; but that the world 
through him might be saved. He that believeth on 
him is not condemned ; but he that believeth not is 
condemned already, because he hath not believed on 
the name of the only begotten Son of God."§ 

This point, so laid down by the author of the reli- 
gion, is mainly insisted on by its teachers after him. 
It is affirmed by Peter, in his address to his country- 
men, when he says, "Repent and be baptized, every 
one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the re- 
mission of sins."\\ And, again, when he calls upon 
them to repent and be converted, that their sins may 
be blotted out:% and assures them, " Unto you first, 
God having raised up his son Jesus, sent him to bless 
you, in turning away every one of you from his iniqui- 
ties."** And on another occasion he declares, " Nei~ 

4 John, v. 24. 

1 ibid, lit. 19 



* John, xiv. 6. f John, v. 40. 

§ Ibid, iii. 17, 18. || Acts, ii. 26. 

** Acts, iii. 26, 



THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 



59 



ther is there salvation in any other; for there is 
none other name under heaven given among men, 
whereby we must be saved."* 

The same point is very particularly urged by Paul, 
as the foundation of Christian truth taught by him to 
those who professed the religion. He systematically 
argues, from a comprehensive view of the actual state 
both of Jews and Gentiles, that " every mouth must 
be stopped, and all the world become guilty before 
God. For all have sinned, and come short of the 
glory of God; being justified freely by his grace, 
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 
whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation 
through faith in his blood, to declare his righteous- 
ness for the remission of sins that are past, through 
the forbearance of God: that he might be just, and 
thejustifier of him which believeth in Jesus. "t In 
another epistle he affirms more generally ; " the Scrip- 
ture hath concluded all under sin, that the pro- 
mise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them 
that believe."% And throughout his writings, with- 
out making such elaborate statements, he so alludes 
to this as an acknowledged doctrine, as to prove that 
it was familiarly received and understood to be the 
basis of the Christian faith. He teaches the Colos- 
sians to be thankful to the Father, who had " deliver- 
ed them from the power of darkness, and translated 
them into the kingdom of his dear Son: in whom 



Acts, iv. 12. f Rom. iii. 23, 8cc. * Gal. iii. 22. 



60 



ORIGINALITY Ol 



they had redemption through his blood, even the for- 
giveness of sins."* And to the Ephesians he writes, 
very remarkably, " You hath he quickened, who were 
dead in trespasses and sins : wherein in times past 
ye toalked according to the course of this world, 
according to the prince of the power of the air, the 
spirit that now worketh in the children of disobe- 
dience: among whom also we all had our conversation 
in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the 
desires of the flesh and of the mind : and were by na- 
ture the children of wrath, even as others "\ 

Such was the doctrine proposed both to Jews and 
Gentiles. But from what existing opinions, among 
either, was it derived ? The Jews, we know, as a 
body, were entirely satisfied with themselves. And 
this, for two reasons. They had very low notions of 
morality \% and further, that sect among them which 
had the most pretensions to religion, never seems to 
have doubted but that their scrupulous attention to the 
ceremonies and prescriptions of their law entitled 
them to the especial favour of God.§ Probably the 

* Col. i. 13. f Eph. ii. 1. 

$ Trypho says to Justin, "Your precepts in the Gospel are so 
strong and extraordinary, that we conceive it impossible for any to 
observe them.*' Orobio says the same. 

§ So Orobio, in his conference with Limborch : and in the An* 
swers to Questions proposed to the Jews, published by Brenius ; 
" Spirituals liberatio solum-modo dependet ab observatione legis 
quam Deus in Monte Sinai promulgavit." See Owen on Hebrews, 
i. 81. Turretin alleges it as one of the Jewish notions refuted by 
Jesus, "that all Jews would certainly be saved." He adduces a 



THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 



61 



general feelings of their party are accurately charac- 
terized by the Pharisee's prayer, in which their self- 
complacency is described to the life: "Lord, I thank 
thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, 
unjust, adulterers: I fast twice in the week. I 
give tithes of all that I possess It is impossible 
that men who supported those interpretations of the 
law which Jesus so forcibly confutes; men who eluded 
the obligations of filial duty by dedicating their money 
to the uses of the temple, and censured acts of mercy, 
because they interfered with the sanctity of the Sab- 
bath—should be awake to those spiritual views of hu- 
man obligation, and of the extent of the divine laws, 
and of the submission of the heart required by true re- 
ligion, which would enable them to discover the truth, 
that u all have sinned;" or that those who "have 
done all," are still to call themselves 66 unjirofi table 
servants "\ 

passage from the Codex Sanhedrim, which affirmed that " every 
Jew had a portion in the future world " and another, from the Tal- 
mud, in which it is said, that " Abraham is sitting near the gates of 
hell, and does not permit any Israelite, however wicked he may be, to 
descend into hell." — See Home's Introd. v. iii. p. 73. 

" The Jews thought that no Israelite should be deprived of fu- 
ture happiness, whatsoever his faults had been, unless he were 
guilty of apostacy, idolatry, and a few other crimes, which they 
specified. — Jortin, from Just. Mart. Dial. p. 433. Thirlby. 

"The school of Elias used to say, that whosoever learned the 
traditions of the Misnah might be assured he should have eternal 
life."— Id. Disc, on Christ. Iie%. p. 28. 

* Luke, xviii. 10. f Luke, xvii. 10. 

F 



62 



ORIGINALITY 01 



We may affirm this with more confidence, from 
the pains which St. Paul takes to establish the point 
in question on the consciences of the Roman Jews, 
when they had embraced Christianity. " Behold, 
(he says) thou art called a Jeiv, and restest in the 
law, and makest thy boast of God, and knowest 
his will, and art confident that thou thyself art a 
guide of the blind, a light of them which are in 
darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of 
babes, which hast the form of knowledge, and of 
the truth in the law."* In this he lays hold of the 
national prejudice; their self-complacency; their as- 
sumed superiority; their confidence of the divine fa- 
vour. He knew it well; for he describes his own 
altered state of feeling, which led him to condemn 
himself, although he had before been, touching the 
righteousness ivhich is of the law, bla?nelessA In- 
deed, nothing from the beginning had excited so much 
malignity against Jesus, as the little respect which he 
paid to the legal or formal righteousness on which the 
Pharisees depended, and the boldness with which he 
laid open the real corruption of their hearts, concealed 
as it was, even from themselves, by a thick veil of 
ignorance and error. 

The other prevailing party in the nation, the Sad- 
ducees, would be in no respect more likely to invent 
or receive these humiliating doctrines. Denying alto- 
gether the immortality of the soul, and the providence 



* Rom. ii. IT. 



f Phil. iii. 9. See the whole passage. 



THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 



63 



of God, and that not in the total absence of religious 
instruction, like the heathens, but in spite of a revela- 
tion which was generally received by their country- 
men ; it was not probable, that they should embrace 
the notion of a Moral Governor in controversy with 
ihem, or believe the danger of a resurrection to con- 
demnation. These were the sceptical portion of the 
people; the free-livers and free-thinkers of their day. 

We can tell, from our own experience, what chance 
there was of a doctrine proving acceptable to men of 
this sort, which began by impeaching them as offen- 
ders against a righteous and holy God, who looked on 
all iniquity with abhorrence. The two classes of men 
whom it is most difficult to bring over to a right ac- 
knowledgment of the Christian faith, are those, who 
like the Catholics of the Reformation, have rigidly, 
but too exclusively adhered to the formal ceremonies 
of religion ; and secondly, those whose consciences 
have been seared by habitual carelessness or profligate 
habits, indulged in defiance of the warnings which the 
Gospel sounds throughout our land, as the law and the 
prophets sounded them in Jerusalem. The former 
would not come to Jesus " that they might have life," 
because they doubted not their having it in them- 
selves ; the others " loved darkness rather than light, 
because their deeds were evil.'*' 

But the conversion of the Jewish nation made a 
very small part of the object of these teachers. It may 
be thought, as they purposed to carry this new doc- 
trine among the heathen world, that their task would 



64 ORIGINALITY Of 

become easier as they proceeded. Once awakened to 
a knowledge of their Creator ; once acquainted with 
his holiness, and the purity of his precepts, and his 
unlimited demand of obedience on the part of man; 
the heathen could but prostrate themselves in the dust, 
in humble conviction of the difference between their 
practice and the law now revealed to them. Yes; they 
would do so, when the impression was really made; 
but how difficult to introduce the light: to create the 
first conviction! Every thing was to be done. When 
they had been untaught the errors with which their 
minds were possessed, they had still to learn the unity 
of God, and his perfect purity; they had to become 
practically convinced of his moral superintendence; 
of the faithful service and obedient love which he re- 
quires ; and of the resurrection to a future state, in 
which he will recompense all men according to their 
conduct in this.* Every article in such a creed was 
new. They had been accustomed to some general 
belief in-superior beings, but those beings little differ- 
ent from themselves, except in the supposed power of 
doing them good or evil. They had entertained little 
idea of moral inspection on the part of their deities ; 

* Expressions of humility may be found in Antoninus and Se- 
neca; which, taken separately, appear to convey a sense of per- 
sonal dement; and have been sometimes quoted for the purpose: 
but, examined with the context, have no reference to any debt 
due to a Supreme Judge; but are only introduced, in the way cf 
argument, to recommend clemency in the punishment, or mode- 
ration in the censure of others. — Sec examples in Seneca de Clem 
i. 6. Anton. 1. xi. c. 18. 



THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 



65 



little sense of personal responsibility. The immorta- 
lity of the soul was discussed among their philosophers, 
but not with any practical view : it was a speculative 
question, affirmed by some, and denied by others.* 
Nor was there ever any sect among them, perhaps 
never an individual, upon whom it gained such an 
ascendancy, as to become a check upon corrupt habits 
Or natural desires. t Tradition, or probability, had in- 
troduced among the Greeks certain vague ideas con- 
cerning future punishments for extraordinary crimes; 
but so mixed up with fiction and fable, that they car- 
ried no weight, even among the lowest vulgar. No 
dread of something after death, prevented their rush- 
ing upon it with eagerness, or meeting it with indif- 
ference : in their discourses, and even prayers, at such 
limes, many of which have come down to us, no sense 
appears of any need of repentance, no pious sorrow, 

* Juvabat de ceternitate animarum queerere, imo mehercule 
credere. Credebam enirn sane opinionibus magnorum virorum, 
rem gratissimam promittentium magis quam probantium, — Sen. Ep, 
c. 11. 

f "We are sufficiently acquainted with the eminent persons 
who flourished in the age of Cicero, and of the first Caesars, with 
their actions, their characters, and their motives, to be assured 
that their conduct in this life was never regulated by any serious 
conviction of the rewards or punishments of a future life." — Gib- 
bon, i. 558. 

"That part of repentance which is a religious sorrow, an ac- 
knowledgment of past offences to God, our Maker and Governor, 
and prayers to him to forgive them ; the Gentiles seem to have 
overlooked, both in the course of their life and at the end of it."— - 
Jort. Disc. p. 265. 

E 2 



ORIGINALITY OF 



or acknowledgment of offences. One philosophei 
writes, "death is the boundary ; and the dead appear 
to be incapable of good or evil."* Was he, or were 
his disciples prepared to put the question, or admit its 
force, "what shall it profit a man, if he should gain 
the w T hole world, and lose his own soul?'' Another 
says, There may be something felt in the act of dying; 
after death we shall either feel nothing, or enjoy 
happinessA Would such an one have received the 
warning: "Fear not them which kill the body, but 
are not able to kill the soul ; but rather fear him which 
is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." The 
same man, and he was one of the wisest of the an- 
cients, he says it too, writing as a moralist, " Keep 
faithfully to what you have promised seriously as in 
the sight of God ; for this is necessary, not on account 
of the divine anger, whichjias no ideality, but for 
the sake of justice and good faith. "J How unlike the 
language, which speaks of a "day of wrath and reve- 

* TlspoK;, yap' y.ai a^ev sv rca Tzfaturi ^axei are ccyctOov are y.xy.cy 
EiVflft. — Aristot. Ethic. I. iii. 

Caesar, in a well-known passage, makes this argument practical, 
and urges it as a reason for not inflicting capital punishment on the 
Catilinarian conspirators, " mortem omnia mortalium mala dissol- 
vere : ultra neque curae neque gaudio locum esse." * An assertion 
which his rival and opponent scarcely ventures to censure. — Sail. 
Bel. Cat. 50. 

-f Cicero de Senectute. 

■i Num iratum timemus Jovem ? Hoc quidem commune est om- 
nium phllosophorum, nunquam nec irasci Deum, nec nocere. — 

Cic. de Off. iii. 28. 



THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 



o7 



lation of the righteous judgment of God, who will 
render to every man according to his deeds : to those 
who by patient continuance in well doing, seek for 
glory, and honour, and immortality — eternal life; but 
unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the 
truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and 
wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul 
of man that doeth evit."* 

Even with regard to the Jews themselves, the views 
concerning a future state which existed among them, 
were of a fluctuating, indefinite nature, the glimmer- 
ing rather than the clear light of truth, altogether un- 
like what we meet with in the discourses of Jesus and 
his followers. Though the immortality of the soul 
was the prevailing sentiment of the synagogue, this 
did not prevent the existence of a sect among them, in 
considerable celebrity, and strictly attached to the 
Mosaic law, who yet denied any resurrection. 

In the Old Testament, the state of the deceased is 
spoken of very briefly and obscurely. It is repre- 
sented to us rather by negative than by positive quali- 
ties; by its silence, its darkness; by the ignorance of 
the living about it.t So that the Jews, at least about 
the time when Christianity was first introduced, were 
in the habit of treating the subject of a future state as 
a matter of philosophy, rather than of religion. For 
their opinions on this head had undergone some varia- 
tions, as well as those of the heathen. The immor- 

* Romans ii. 5 — 9. 

f See Campbell on the Gospels. Preliminary Dissertation. 



68 



ORIGINALITY OF 



tality of the soul had been much more generally be- 
lieved among the earlier Greeks, than in later times, 
and among the Romans. And from the subjection of 
the Jews, first to the Macedonian empire, and after- 
wards to the Romans, they imbibed many of the sen- 
timents of the people with whom they had intercourse, 
particularly on those subjects where the law was not 
explicit. Several speculative tenets from the philoso- 
phy of other eastern nations also gained admission 
among them.* 

Hence it arose, that with regard to a future state, a 
great difference is observable between the language 
of the ancient prophets, and the popular opinions of 
the Jews at the Christian aera. It may seem surprising 
now to us, when we read their Scriptures with eyes 
enlightened by subsequent discoveries, that there 
should have been any dissentients from the doctrine of 
the future existence and responsibility of mankind. 
But their example shows us the difference between 
prophetic hints or allusions to a truth, and positive 
declarations: between analogical conclusions, and the 
explicit assertions of a law, of which future rewards 
and punishments are the sanction. 

* This is evident, from the account given by Josephus of the 
sentiments of the Pharisees. Antiq. 18. 2. Bell. Jud.ii. 12. Their 
prevalent opinion was, that the soul survived the body : that vicious 
souls would suffer imprisonment in Hades : that the souls of the 
virtuous would be happy there, and in time be privileged to trans- 
migrate into other bodies : which was their oivarxa-ig nov vex-pioy. 
—Campbell, xibi supra. See also Home's Introd. vol. ii. p. 618. 



THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 



69 



The Jew, then, speaking of the nation generally, 
was no more in a state, than his heathen neighbour, 
from his previous habits of thinking, to invent or re- 
ceive a religion like the Christian. His views of fu- 
turity had nothing clear or positive about them. His 
usual train of thought seldom carried him beyond this 
world ; and when it did, he was under no apprehen- 
sion; therefore he was not prepared, without further 
conviction, to believe any thing, or to resign any 
thing, for the sake of an uncertain future. He was 
no more ready to embrace, than he was likely to con- 
ceive, the precept, " Lay not up for yourselves trea- 
sures on earth." It would be new to him to hear the 
positive assurance, " These shall go away into ever- 
lasting punishment ; but the righteous into life eter- 
nal." 

II. If there was no acknowledgment of sinfulness, 
if there was no feeling of consequent danger, no 
" fearful expectation of judgment:" — there could be, 
of course, no preparation for the great and leading ar- 
ticle of the Gospel, the doctrine of redemption. That 
in pity for the condition of mankind, God had sent 
his Son into the world to make an atonement for 
their sins, and to ransom from eternal condemna- 
tion as many as should believe in his name, and re- 
ceive him as their Saviour : this was a declaration, 
which nothing in the previous opinion or expectations 
of either Jews or heathen tended to make credible or 
popular. 

The heathen, indeed, had been accustomed to pro- 



70 



ORIGINALITY OF 



pitiate their deities by sacrifice; and such offerings 
made an important part of their national worship. We 
find, too, from history, that among nations as widely- 
separated from each other, as the Druids in Gaul, and 
the Persians and Indians in the East, the remarkable 
custom of offering human sacrifices prevailed. And 
although we are not acquainted, from any clear autho- 
rity, with the notions upon which this custom was 
originally founded, we cannot easily account for its 
existence, except from a dread of divine anger, and a 
vague hope of averting this from the head of one vic- 
tim to that of another.* The explanation is most pro- 
bable, if I do not assume too much in saying so, which 
represents it as a fragment of early revelation, broken 
off from the system, of which it formed a part, and 
carried down along the stream of time after its ob- 
ject and purpose had been forgotten. For, whatever 
may have been the origin of the practice, we know 
enough of the heathen sacrifices, and the prayers 
which accompanied them, to be assured that this mode 
of worship was rather a compliance with ancient cus- 
tom, than a solemn offering of which any reasonable 

* The position maintained by Dr. Priestley, that " in no nation, 
ancient or modern, Jew or heathen, has any idea of a doctrine of 
atonement, or of any requisite for forgiveness, save repentance 
and reformation, ever existed," is so inconsistent with fact, that it 
is surprising- he should have ventured the assertion. Magee, i. 292. 
Yet the ideas which did exist on that subject were far too vague 
and indefinite to become a foundation for the doctrines of the 
Gospel. 



THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 



71 



account could be given. It did not convey, generally, 
any idea of substitution, or arise from any sense of 
personal danger. It had been the practice of their 
ancestors, the practice of the country ; and as such it 
was maintained. And the idea which attended it 
was rather that of expensive purchase, than of vica- 
rious suffering.* When Jesus declared, that he came 
¥ to give his life a ransom for many; 99 and when 
Peter affirms, " that Christ bore our sins in his own 
body on the tree; that he once suffered for sins, the 
just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God,"t 
we are presented with a clear and definite idea ; no- 
thing like which was conveyed by the heathen sacri- 
fices, or the petitions offered together with them, 
which expressed the anxiety of the worshippers for 
some temporal good, and, at the same time, betrayed 
their ignorance and indifference concerning a future 
state. 

Among the Jews, vicarious sacrifices formed a very 
remarkable part of their worship; and, by the law 
which enacted them, were declared to convey an ac- 
knowledgment of demerit, and to be intended as a 
propitiation for sin, in language too clear to be mis- 
taken. But the Jews did not look to any thing be- 
yond the actual sacrifice ordained by their law. They 
considered it as being perfect and sufficient in itself, 
and did not expect any ulterior fulfilment, much less 

Placatur donis Jupiter ipse datis. 
f Matt. xx. 28. 1 Pet. ii. 24. iii. 18. 



ORIGINALITY OF 



such a fulfilment as the Gospel declared. They liad 
never been accustomed to interpret their Scriptures in 
this way. It was there predicted in a prophecy, con- 
fessedly relating to the Messiah, that he should " be 
cut off, but not for himself."* But they had never 
applied this and other passages of similar import to 
the actual circumstances of the expected Messiah ; 
neither could they be persuaded to apply them so, 
against the stream of a contrary prepossession. So 
far from this being their previous idea or expectation, 
Jesus is represented as employing frequent pains, and 
for a long time without effect, even to convince his 
immediate followers that such was the purport of their 
ancient prophecies.t 

Under these discouragements, with no party on his 

* Dan. ix. 26. 

f A remarkable passage occurs in Philo, concerning the Aoyo$, 
not indeed as Redeemer, but as Mediator. To* kpftayytXto xxt 
crpecrGvTotTCf} Aoya> ^coptccv i^xtperov efiuxev o rx oXx ysvvqcrxs 
vamp, ivct [AtGoptos ct«§ to yevopevov hcty.piv?) rtt 9r£9ro^x0?d$ } 
with more to the same purpose. (V. i. p. 501. edit. Mangey.) On 
this and other coincidences between the Christian writers and 
Philo, Bryant observes, " If we admit these doctrines of Philo, and 
excuse his prejudices and misapplication, we shall find some won- 
derful truths afforded. And these could not be borrowed from his 
brethren the Jeivs ; for whatever knowledge they had of these myste- 
ries, it was by no means adequate to the intelligence wliich he has 
given" His Discourse on Repentance, however, as well as the 
general tenor of his works, shows, that whether he derived his ex- 
pressions from Christian sources, as Bryant supposes, or not, his 
knowledge was merely theoretical : he had no practical under- 
standing of the doctrine of mediation. 



t 



1 



THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 



73 



side, and no feeling in his favour, Jesus began to pro- 
claim to his disciples and countrymen, that he had 
come into the world as a peacemaker between God 
and men, by offering himself a sacrifice in their stead. 
Declaring " that God so loved the world, that he had 
sent his only son, to the end that all that believe in 
him might not perish, but have eternal life." That 
" the Son of man was come, to give his life a ran- 
som for many." That " as Moses lifted up the 
serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be 
lifted up," that they might look on him, and be saved,. 
Which assertion was more fully explained by the 
apostles, after the event of his crucifixion ; when they 
affirmed in plain terms, that he " was delivered for 
our offences;" that "whilst we were yet sinners, 
Christ died for us ;" that " when we were enemies, 
ive were reconciled to God by the death of his Son; 7 ' 
that "we have redemption through his blood;" that 
" he was once offered, to bear the sins of many ;" 
that " God sent his Son to make propitiation for our 
sins" 

Now, whatever may be thought of this declaration, 
one thing, at least, can never be pretended ; that it 
was conformable to any opinions existing among the 
Jews of that age. Otherwise, why did they revolt 
from his claims? Yet we are told, that when he had 
been explaining more particularly than before, the en- 
tire reliance and dependance upon him which the re- 
generation and salvation of their souls required: many 
said, " This is a hard saying ; who can bear it ? And 



74 ORIGINALITY 01 

from that time many of his disciples went back, and 
walked no more with him."* On another occasion, 
" Jesus said to those Jews which believed on him, If 
ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples in- 
deed ; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall 
make you free. They answered him., we be Abra- 
ham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man; 
how say est thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus an- 
swered them, If the Son shall make you free, ye 
shall be free indeed. "t This assertion was very ill 
received by the generality; and that it would be so, 
he was well aware, and often spoke to this purport : 
" Blessed is he ivhosoever shall not be offended in 
me"% 

u If a man keep my say ing, he shall never see 
death. My sheep hear my voice; and I know them, 
and they follow me ; and I give unto them eternal 
life, and none shall pluck them out of my hand."§ 
Now, is this a pretension which Jesus was likely to 
assume, from a desire of gaining reputation, or con- 
verting proselytes ? We have seen that there was no- 
thing in the state of the public mind, either among 
Jews or heathens, which could have led to his taking 
upon himself the character of Mediator between the 
world and God. He had not the advantage of coming 
to the world, as one who preached his religion in 
these latter times came to an Hindoo suffering under 

f John, viii. SI. 
§ John, viii. 51 ; x. 27. 



* John, vi. 60. 66. 

* Mat. si. 6. 



THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 75 

the torment of some self-inflicted penance, and point- 
ed out the uselessness of such voluntary martyrdom, 
since God had " laid on one the iniquity of us all;" 
and "the blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin." He 
found none read^to exclaim, " This is what I want," 
as the Hindoo replied, and threw away the instru- 
ments of his torture. Before men could be persuaded 
to trust in him as their Mediator, they must be first 
convinced of a future state; then of a future judgment ; 
and then of their incompetency to meet that judg- 
ment; their liability to the divine wrath. We know 
this, from what we know of their previous sentiments; 
we perceive it from the general strain of his declara- 
tions; which aim at proving the value of the soul; its 
imminent risk; the certainty and strictness of the di- 
vine tribunal; the misery of punishment ; the blessed- 
ness of Heaven. We collect the same from the few 
addresses of the apostles to the heathen, which are re- 
corded. Before the court of Areopagus, Paul makes 
it his first object to prove the existence of the Creator, 
and the resurrection of the dead.* And to the Roman 
governor, Felix, he began by "reasoning of temper- 
ance, and righteousness, and judgment to come."t 
Till he had laid thi6 foundation, there was nothing for 
the Gospel to stand upon. 

There would be no justice, therefore, in comparing 
the impression made by the doctrines of the Christian 
teachers with that of any modern impostor or enthusi- 



Acts, xvii. 24, &c. 



f Ibid, xxiv. 25. 



76 



ORIGINALITY OF 



ast, who easily persuades the ignorant to receive his 
pretensions. He takes advantage of the belief already 
existing, and supported on other grounds, and on that 
he founds and establishes his claim to attention. All 
that he needs to prove is this, that lp is an interpreter 
of the Bible, which his hearers already believe, on 
widely different evidence, to be the word of God. 
Jesus, on the contrary, came, not to interpret a reve- 
lation, but to make one ; to make one in open contra- 
diction to the natural opinions and popular belief of all 
who heard it. 

And the little probability which existed of such a 
revelation as his being believed, or invented in order 
to its being believed, is sufficiently plain from what 
we ourselves know, and feel, and have constant op- 
portunity of observing. The doctrines in question, 
that Jesus came to make atonement for the sins of 
men ; for that " all have sinned, and come short of the 
glory of God f 9 and that " eternal life is the gift of 
God through him," or for his sake: how are these 
statements usually received? Are they the first or 
the last doctrines which mankind are willing to ac- 
quiesce in? Are there not multitudes who do not 
dispute or doubt the evidence which confirms the au- 
thority of' the Scriptures, and yet refuse their assent 
to this leading tenet? Is it not generally understood 
to be so contrary to the prepossessions of mankind, 
that it is often kept out of sight, and has been seldom 
insisted on as the main object of the Gospel, in treati- 
ses which were intended to give a popular view of 



THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 



77 



the evidences of Christianity? Notwithstanding the 
clearness with which it is laid down, and the various 
proofs which can be alleged to show that divine reve- 
lation, from the beginning, has hinged upon this as 
its principal point: we know that a considerable body, 
even among those who do not neglect religion, labour 
to exclude this article from the Gospel, on the express 
plea, that it is contrary to the suggestions of our rea- 
son, and, therefore, Cannot be admitted by those who 
profess themselves "rational Christians." 

The proposition which they maintain is, that " God 
freely forgives the sins of men, upon repentance; and 
that there can be no occasion, properly speaking, for 
any thing further being done, to avert the punishment 
with which they had been threatened."* On this 
ground, the sacrifice which Jesus declared that he came 
to make, and which his apostles affirmed that he had 
made upon the cross, is explained away. His death 
is sometimes said to have confirmed the truth of his 
mission. Others treat it as an " illustrious example, 
showing us the most perfect obedience to God, and 
the most generous goodness. and love to man, recom- 
mended to our imitation by all possible endearments 
and engaging considerations." And they object against 
the doctrine of atonement, " as having greatly debased 
the truths of the natural placability of the Divine Be- 
ing, and our ideas of the equity of his government."! 

* Priestley, Hist, of the Corruptions of Christianity, 
f Taylor's Key to Apostol. Writings. For the whole subject, 
see Archbishop Magee on the Atonement, passim* 
G 2 



7S 



ORIGINALITY OF 



So they consider Jesus as a man commissioned by 
God to make a fuller communication of his will, and 
teach a purer morality than the world had known be- 
fore; by his life to set an example of perfect obedience*, 
by his death, to manifest his sincerity; and by his re- 
surrection, to convince us of the great truth which he 
had been commissioned to teach, our rising again to 
future life.* 

If those who do not discard the authority of Scrip- 
ture, nay, who profess to revere it, can be thus induc- 
ed to bend and distort its plain declarations, in order 
to bring them to the level of their previous opinions: 
we have a striking argument to prove what I began 
this chapter by alleging, namely, that the purpose 
which Jesus assigns for his appearance in the world 
was very little likely to have been fabricated in order 
to deceive: and if invented, either by fraud or enthu- 
siasm, very little likely to have obtained attention and 
credit, without overpowering evidence. 

III. The peculiar death of Christ opposed an addi- 
tional barrier to the reception of his religion. " Let 
all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath 
made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both 
Lord and Christ. "t So Peter affirmed, in a full as- 
sembly of his countrymen. But was it probable, that 
he should be believed in this, on his bare and unsup- 
ported assertion? Neither would the apostles, we must 
Imagine, be listened to abroad, when they came to de-^ 



* Magee, i. 12. 



f Acts, ii. 36. 



J 



THE CHRISTIAN* DOCTRINES.' 79 

clare among foreign nations, that he who was now 
held up as the Saviour of the world, and who was to 
become the object of universal faith and trust, was a 
Jew, who had been crucified at the instigation of his 
countrymen. Such a death was certainly an essential 
part of the whole system ; but it was long before that 
system could be explained, and longer still before it 
could be understood and comprehended by Gentile 
hearers, to whom every thing relating to the Jewish 
law, its rites, and typical sacrifices, was new. " Be- 
hold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of 
the world. 7 '* Such a sentence fills the Christian with 
love and admiration; and even to the sceptic of the 
present day, the idea which it conveys is familiar; and 
from the effect of early association, and popular reve- 
rence, carries with it so much that is venerable that 
we are unable to judge how strange, not to say revolt- 
ing, the doctrine must have appeared to the minds of 
a Grecian or Roman audience. 

The plan of redemption disclosed in the Gospel, 
comes to us united with the Jewish Scriptures and 
Jewish history; many circumstances of which concur 
to introduce it gradually to our minds. But, to a Jew, 
the Cross was an*object of peculiar abhorrence. They 
had a proverbial sentence in their law, " Cursed is 
every one that hangeth on a i;°.e." Their firm belief 
that the Messiah should be a prince and a conqueror, 
sufficiently disinclined them to receive any one in that 

* John, i. 29. 



so 



ORIGINALITY OF 



character, who had no outward splendour that man 
should admire. But a disgraceful death was a still 
more decided disqualification. And they seemed to 
themselves to have given a death-blow to his preten- 
sions, when they had succeeded in contriving for him 
a punishment so mean and degrading. " Come down 
from the cross, if thou be the son of God. 5 ' — " He 
saved others, himself he cannot save." 

Among the other nations to which Christianity was 
first proposed, this obstacle would be no less invinci- 
ble. That one who had been condemned by his own 
countrymen to death: that one who had actually suf- 
fered that death, by an execution reserved for the 
vilest malefactors; which it was not permitted to in- 
flict on the most notorious offender, if a Roman citi- 
zen : that he should be now proclaimed as one sent 
from God to call the world to repentance, and through 
whom alone was an opening of acceptance with God: 
all this would appear so contradictory to the natural 
feelings and habitual associations of the persons to 
whom it was addressed, that it could not be received 
on any common authority. It seems impossible that 
men should venture to propose it, without some strong 
confirmation, to which they might appeal. The dif- 
ficulty is acknowledged in the history itself. The 
whole matter is there represented as quite inexplica- 
ble, even to the apostles, till the entire system of the 
Gospel was laid open to them : and they were enabled 
to perceive, that the expected Messiah " ought to have 
suffered these things, and to enter into his glory.".* 
* Luke, xxiv. 26. 



THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 



81 



During their master's life-time, all intimations from him 
of what he was about to undergo were met with an 
indignant or incredulous repulse. "Be it fa? from 
thee, Lord. This shall not happen to thee." — " And 
if to men so prepossessed as were the Jews, this doc- 
trine could not fail to appear impious and execrable; 
to men so prepossessed as were the Gentiles, it could 
not fail to appear nonsensical and absurd. In fact, it 
is manifest from the writings of the apologists for 
Christianity, in the second and third centuries, that 
this doctrine long continued to be a principal matter 
of offence to the enemies of Christianity, and was re- 
garded by such as an insurmountable objection. They 
treated it as no better than madness, to place confi- 
dence in a man whom God had abandoned to the 
scourge of the executioner, and the indelible reproach 
of the cross."* 

Now, if the followers of Jesue had heen conscious 
that they were promulgating an unsupported fable, 
they would surely have kept out of sight this part of 

* Campbell. Serai, ii. v. 2, p. 23. Aoyov iTrccyyeXtopevov vm 
sivut ra ha, et7rofetKWf4.ev a Aoyov KctOccpov x<»( uyiov, uXXet, m- 
0p&>7rov xiifio-jxiov, oiTru^ev-jcc xoti cc7ro-jV[jmcM irfavloi. — Cels. ap, 
Orig-. p. 79. Ed. Spencer. 

NsKpa Ttvoq tpvifiw en rov vf*,e*jegov (sc. Deorum) £y»# 7 f<rTjjcrg 
K^ypov. Libanius, de Constantino loquens, Paneg. Julian. 253. 

'Evei-jct e o vo/zoOe-jr,*; 'o 7rp&>iog S7reia-£V avjXs, «s o&hxpoi rxcct^ 
etev uXXyXw, £7ret£ctv awa^ irccpotQo&vjet; <S>£8$ ftev rag 'EXtovtKXs 
et7rctpvrjTti))i-]oti s rov o^e ecvxa-KoXo^ia-f^evov ey.eiw 2o<pt<rTqv xvi&w 
Trporxvvart, Lucian de Morte Peregrine 



ORIGINALITY OB 



their leader's history. Or, if it were too notorious to 
be omitted in the narrative, we should find them al- 
ways -on the watch to cover the disgrace, and remove 
the impression which it was naturally calculated to 
raise. Yet this precaution was neglected, or very im- 
perfectly used by any of the Evangelists. They re- 
cord the crucifixion as faithfully as they record many 
other things which might be likely to create a preju- 
dice against the religion: but the explication is left 
for the more complete development of the doctrines 
which was to follow. Neither did the Apostles, in 
their subsequent ministry, ever conceal this revolting 
fact, or cloak the disgrace of their Lord under the ge- 
neral dignity of a divine teacher, whose zeal had made 
him a sacrifice to popular fury. St. Paul is constantly 
repeating, " I preach Christ, and him crucified" — "I 
glory in the cross of Christ:" though he was well 
aware, at the same time, that, this very reproach of the 
cross made his religion "a stumbling block to the 
Jews, and foolishness to the Greeks." He acknow- 
ledges the "offence" taken at the cross; and speaks 
of "enemies of the cross of Christ:" confessing, that 
in the doctrines which he proclaimed there was much 
to contradict the notions of human wisdom, and which 
human wisdom would reluctantly receive.* 

All this has very little the appearance of fabrication. 
No one has ever shown what could induce men to im- 
pose a religion on the world, when, by doing so, they 
risked every thing and could gain nothing. If they 

• 1 Cor. i. from v. 17 to the end of the chapter. 



THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 



S3 



were led by interest, where was their profit? If they 
were hurried along by enthusiasm, whence came their 
sobriety? why was there so much method in their 
madness? But if this argument is set aside; if it is 
thought that the anomalies of human nature make it 
impossible always to determine, from any ordinary 
rules of conduct, what enterprise men may or may 
not take in hand : then I look to another test, to the 
religion itself, instead of the persons who introduced 
it. And I argue, that the main doctrines of Christi- 
anity — the condemnation of mankind as corrupt in the 
sight of God, and the atonement made upon the cross 
by Jesus as a Mediator between the offenders and 
their judge, — are doctrines which we cannot, on any 
rational or probable grounds, attribute to imposture. 
Taking them as maintained by the Apostles, with all 
their attending circumstances of the resurrection of the 
dead, the future judgment, the final punishment of the 
wicked, and the eternal happiness of the redeemed, 
we cannot trace their origin to any known or accessi- 
ble source in the belief of those times and countries. 
Neither can we account for their reception. There 
was nothing in the doctrines themselves to allure or 
conciliate; and the minds, both of Jews and Gentiles, 
were utterly unprepared to embrace a religion which 
had nothing in common with their former opinions, 
and directly opposed some of their strongest prejudices. 



84 



CONNEXION OF CHRISTIANITY WITH 



CHAPTER IV. 

Connexion of Christianity with the Jewish History 
and Scriptures. 

The inquiry of the preceding chapter came to this 
result: that the Christian religion sets out upon a 
view of the state of mankind which was original, and 
proclaims a method of recovery from that state, which 
was also original : the expectation of such an event, 
to be so accomplished, having never entered into the 
minds of Jews or Gentiles. 

But is it not a possible case, that the followers of 
Jesus, being disappointed by his death, and required 
to account for it, or to give up their purpose, and 
confess themselves deluded; should have struck out 
the idea of atonement, and affirmed that he died a sa- 
crifice ? en having hit upon this explanation, they 
supported it as they could out of the institutions of 
their law, and the facts related in their history. 

There certainly are points in the law, and circum- 
stances in the history, of the Jews, to which the death 
of Jesus appears to bear a more or less direct relation. 

1. In a very early part of their history, the father 
of the nation, Abraham, is represented as receiving a 
command from God to offer his only son, Isaac, as a 
victim to be sacrificed on the altar by his own hand. 



THE JEWISH HISTORY AND SCRIPTURES. 85 

Abraham obeyed the extraordinary command; and to 
the full extent of purpose and intention the sacrifice 
was consummated ; being only restrained at the very 
crisis of accomplishment, by divine interposition.* 
Do we see here the germ of the doctrine that " God 
so loved the world as to send his only begotten son " 
to make u a propitiation for their sins?" 

2. Again, in the journey through the wilderness, 
we find it related, that when the camp of the Israelites 
was infested with venomous serpents, sent as a judi- 
cial chastisement for their disobedience; Moses erected, 
by divine command, a serpent of brass: numbers of 
the people had perished; but as many as looked up to 
this brazen figure, were healed of their wounds. To 
this the crucifixion of Jesus is explicitly compared: 
" as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so 
must the Son of Man be lifted up"\ 

3. The departure of the Israelites from Egypt was 
attended with this .remarkable circumstance. That 
they might avoid the fate with which the Egyptians 
were threatened, the Israelites were ordered, in every 
family, to kill a lamb, and sprinkle the doors of their 
houses with its blood, under a promise that the im- 
pending calamity should be averted from every house 
on which this token was displayed. The anniversary 
of this great event in their history, their departure 
from Egypt, was to be carefully celebrated ; and their 
preservation commemorated in every family by the 



* Gen. ch. xxii, f Numbers, xxi. 8. — John, iii. 14, 

H 



86 CONNEXION OF CHRISTIANITY WITH 

annual sacrifice of a lamb slain in a manner particularly 
prescribed. This greatest of the Jewish festivals was 
termed the Passover, from the peculiar circumstances 
of its institution.* 

This custom is alluded to, when Jesus is designated 
as " the Lamb of God;" and he is specifically styled 
u our Passover, who is sacrificed for us."t 

4. The establishment of the law of Moses, which 
followed the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt, 
is represented as a covenant ; in which a rich and 
fruitful country is promised to that people, together 
with an abundant store of temporal blessings, if they 
continued obedient to the prescriptions of the law. 
The Gospel is also represented as a covenant, of which 
Jesus is the Mediator ;% " a new and better covenant," 
sanctioned not by transitory or earthly rewards, but 
by the promise of eternal life to as many as embrace 
that covenant through faith in its author. 

5. By the Mosaic law a high priest was appointed, 
who should " offer gifts and sacrifices" in the name of 
the people. The teachers of the Gospel stated, t||at 
by this appointment the purpose of the incarnation of 
Jesus was prefigured : who was to appear as the great, 
and acceptable, and final Intercessor for mankind, 
and who, " by the sacrifice of himself," " the offer- 
ing of his body once for all," should " put away sin."§ 

6. It was part of the ceremonial of the Jewish law, 

* Exod. xii. 27, &c. 

f John, i. 29. Revelation, passim. 1 Cor. v. 7. 

* Heb. xii. 24 ; ix. 15. § Heb. ix. 26; x. 10. 



THE JEWISH HISTORY AND SCRIPTURES. 



87 



that the altar, and the vessels used in sacrifice, should 
be washed, and the people sprinkled, with the blood 
of the victim.''* On one occasion, the ratification of 
the covenant between God and that people, was so- 
lemnized in this way. And the reason of the original 
appointment is expressed in these words — " the blood 
is the atonemen t for the soul. 7, \ 

This custom is declared in the New Testament to 
have been a type of the purpose of God, to sanctify 
for himself a people through the blood of Christ ; 
which is said to have ratified an everlasting cove- 
nant;" to be sprinkled upon the conscience ; to be the 
" price of. redemption and forgiveness of sins," the 
object of faith, and the medium of justification.:}: 

Now the question is, whether the authors of Chris- 
tianity took advantage of these and other circumstances 
belonging to their history and law, and adapted them 
to their purpose, in o^der to make out a plausible ex- 
planation of their leader's death. 

It was before mentioned, that no expectation of any 
such fulfilment of the law existed among the Jews. 
They observed the type, without looking towards the 
antitype. They considered their law to be perfect in 
itself; and it does not appear that they generally in- 
terpreted it in a figurative point of view. Jesus was 
not understood, when he made allusions to the histo- 
rical types and applied them to himself. And the 
apostle, who explains, in an elaborate treatise, the 



* Exod. xxiv. 6, &c. f Levit. xvii. 11, 

i Heb. xiii. 20; x. 22. Eph. i. 7. Rom. Hi. 25; v. 9. 



CONNEXION OF CHRISTIANITY WITH 



prophetical institutions of the law, and their fulfilment 
in what Jesus had done and suffered, thinks it neces- 
sary to prove the agreement point by point, as if he 
was laying before his countrymen a novel and unex- 
pected interpretation.* 

We have, therefore, little reason to suppose that 
these men, in opposition to the current of public opi- 
nion, would recover from the dismay into which their 
leader's death had thrown them, to exhibit him in the 
new character of a sacrifice: would affirm, contrary to 
every received idea, that it was the object of the pre- 
dicted Messiah's appearance to make that sacrifice : 
would have the ingenuity to support their fiction by 
appealing to the ceremonies of the national worship ; 
and would ultimately succeed in converting a number 
of their countrymen to their side. 

But, waving this improbability, how are we to ac- 
count for the existence, in the Jewish law, of those 
typical institutions which allowed of suck an applica- 
tion ? How are we to account for the historical facts 
which illustrate the Gospel, and receive illustration 
from it? In proportion as these are suitable to the pur- 
pose for which the Apostles employed them, the won- 
der is increased that they should be found in the his- 
tory at all. 

1. That God should send his Son into the world, 
to suffer a judicial death for the sins of mankind, is an 
idea so astonishing, that we receive it with difficulty 

* See the Epistle to the Hebrews, chap. vii. — x, and passim 



THE JEWISH HISTORY AND SCRIPTURES. 89 

and hesitation. It is extraordinary too, that the Jew- 
ish history should relate how the greatest patriarch of 
their nation was commanded to make a similar sacri- 
fice, by the offer of his only son upon the altar to 
God. The resemblance, in a matter so remarkable, 
seems to indicate connexion ; especially when we con- 
sider the minute circumstances to which that resem- 
blance extends. Each individual concerned was an 
only and a beloved son of his father. Each was doom- 
ed by his father to be made a sacrifice. Each bore 
upon his own shoulders the wood upon which he was 
to suffer. Each willingly gave up the life he was re- 
quested to resign ; and, " as a sheep before her shearers 
is dumb, so opened he not his mouth." Each was ac- 
counted dead in the sight of men, yet each was raised 
again, and returned unto those he had left. Each was 
the heir of promise by descent, and to each has the 
promise been fulfilled. The seed of each has been 
multiplied " as the stars of heaven, and as the sand 
which is upon the sea-shore ; and in their seed have 
all the nations of the earth been blessed/'* 

2. u Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou 
shalt be saved" This was the Christian doctrine; but 
it was unlike any thing which the world had heard or 
conceived before. So it was a singular fact, which oc- 
curs in the Jewish annals, that the people, when 
wounded and dying by the bite of poisonous serpents, 
should be told to lift up their eyes towards the image 



* Benson's Lectures, vol. ii. Lect. xiv.j 
H 2 



90 CONNEXION OF CHRISTIANITY WITH 

elevated above them, and so receive a cure. The re- 
medy, to which the party requiring aid contributed 
nothing, and to which the prescribed means appeared 
wholly inadequate, is in both cases annexed to the act 
of faith. Can we suppose such coincidence to have 
been casual ? 

3. The Jews were in possession of a law peculiar 
to themselves, which diners in its nature and provi- 
sions from that of every other country, and receives 
its easiest explanation, when considered as an appara- 
tus for introducing the religion of Jesus. The sacri- 
fices ordained by Moses were not treated as in the 
worship prevalent elsewhere, in the light of compen- 
sations ; but clearly conveyed the idea of substitu- 
tion. The offender was instructed to bring his offer- 
ing, a male without blemish, and to lay his hand up- 
on its head, and to kill it as a sin-offering; and the 
priest should " make atonement for the sin that he had 
committed, and it should be forgiven him/'* Another 
appointment ordered, that the priest should lay both 
his hands upon the head of the victim, and " confess 
over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, 
and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting 
them upon his head."t 

This agrees both with what was prophetically said 
concerning the death of Jesus, and with what was sub- 
sequently declared to be its effect. "He was wound- 
ed for our transgressions, he was bruised for our mi* 



* Levit. iv. 24, 35. 



t Leyit. xvi. 21, 



THE JEWISH HISTORY AND SCRIPTURES. 91 

quities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, 
and with his stripes we are healed. The Lord hath 
laid on him the iniquity of us all. For the transgres- 
sion of my people was he stricken." " Christ suffer- 
ed for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring 
us to God." " He himself bore our sins in his own 
body." " We are sanctified through the offering of 
the body of Jesus Christ once for all."* 

With respect to the paschal lamb, the law directed 
that on the tenth day of the month Abib, in which 
they left Egypt, every family should select a lamb, a 
male of the first year, without spot or blemish, and 
keep it up unto the fourteenth day, when the whole 
congregation should kill it in the evening. It was to 
be slain and eaten in a particular manner, so that no 
bone should be broken; and no part was to be suffered 
to remain unto the morning.t 

Now the existence of an institution so singular is a 
remarkable fact ; and its agreement with transactions 
which happened so long after its appointment, is still 
more remarkable ; a resemblance which the agents in 
those transactions did not intend or perceive; and de- 
pending upon circumstances which those who were 
interested in the resemblance could no way command. 

Jesus, on the tenth day of the same month Abib, 
came up to Jerusalem, four days before the Passover. 
His judge was led to declare that he could " find no 
fault in him and thus affirmed him to be without 

* Isaiah, liii. 1 Pet. iii. 18. Heb. x. 10. f Exod. xii. 



92 CONNEXION OF CHRISTIANITY WITH 

blemish. It was contrary to all previous probability, 
that he should be executed under the Roman jurisdic- 
tion. Pilate even strove to prevail with the Jews, to 
deal with him after their own law. Had he succeed- 
ed, or had he refused to gratify their wishes, the death 
of Jesus would not have been crucifixion. Had it not 
been crucifixion, the resemblance would not have been 
made good, which required that the blood should be 
poured out ; that " a bone of him should not be 
broken." Neither could there have been room for 
the application of the prophecy, " They shall look on 
him whom they pierced." Neither was it within the 
reach of anticipation, that the crucifixion should take 
place on that particular evening, which was the anni- 
versary orthe first sacrifice of the passover, at a dis- 
tance of fifteen hundred and twenty-four years ; or 
that as it was ordered that no part of the victim lamb 
should remain until the following morning, so the 
body of Jesus was buried, notwithstanding the circum- 
stances of his death, without delay ; or that he should 
be condemned by the whole assembly of the people. 

We have it in our choice, either to believe that all 
this concurrence of circumstances was purely acci- 
dental; or to suppose that the Jewish history and the 
Mosaic law were connected from the beginning with 
the death of Jesus, which had been determined in the 
counsels of God. Had this been God's purpose, it 
cannot be considered unnatural that he should have 
given such gradual intimations of it, as are conveyed 
in the Jewish law and history. The existence of such 



THE JEWISH HISTORY AND SCRIPTURES. 



93 



intimations affords strong evidence to us at the pre- 
sent day, confirming other testimony, and proving 
the truth of what is implied throughout the Gospel, 
that the crucifixion of Jesus was the divine purpose 
from the earliest ages. It might have afforded in a 
higher degree this evidence to a Jew. When the 
teachers of the Gospel first claimed his attention, " the 
Jew should have reasoned thus with himself. Do they 
say that Jesus died for our redemption? So did the 
paschal lamb die to redeem our whole nation in Egypt. 
Did he ascend afterwards into heaven? So did our 
high priest go yearly into the most holy place, carry- 
ing thither the blood of a sacrifice slain in the worldly 
sanctuary. Is there no remission of sins without shed- 
ding of blood? There certainly was none under the 
law. Has Jesus appointed a baptism with water? So 
had our law its purifications for the washing away of 
uncleanness. Numberless other questions might be 
asked, which would bring their own answers with 
them out of the law of Moses ; and such was the use 
which the Jew ought to have made of it."* 

I think, then, it must be allowed, that the existence 
of these points in the Jewish law and history, affords 
additional authority to the Christian religion, instead 
of diminishing any thing from it. That it did not 
grow naturally out of the Jewish religion, is clear as 
was before shown, because it opposed the existing opi- 
nions of those who professed that religion at the time 
of its promulgation. If I divert into a new channel 

* Jones on Figurative Language of Scripture, 



§4 CONNEXION OF CHRISTIANITY WITH 



a stream which has been long flowing in its native 
bed, and so make it contribute to serve and aid some 
important purpose, that effect cannot be ascribed to 
the natural current of the stream, which, but for my 
interference, would have continued to flow on as be- 
fore. My purpose may indeed receive great advan- 
tage from the stream originally existing. But the 
new direction has a cause independent of the original 
stream. So in the case we are considering: a party 
of adventurers, educated, as far as they were educated 
at all, in a bigoted attachment to the practice of their 
ancestors, rise up and oppose the current of the na- 
tional belief: announce the termination of their law, 
and point out indications in their ancient history and 
institutions, which prove that such was the original 
purpose of its author. . But whence came the impulse 
which urged them to this attempt? And how came 
they to meet with confirmation and collateral support 
from institutions and occurrences over which they 
could have no control? 

These difficulties vanish, if we believe that the 
Christian religion really came from God. Allowing 
this, we should expect it to agree with his former re- 
velation, and to belong to a connected plan. And it 
does so, in a remarkable degree. It gives to the lead- 
ing features of the Jewish law a consistency which 
they are otherwise in want of, and it affixes a reasona- 
ble signification to facts which cannot otherwise be 
easily explained. It does not only fulfil prophetic 
words, but accomplishes prophetic facts, And this. 



THE JEWISH HISTORY AND SCRIPTURES. 95 

it must be acknowledged, greatly increases the diffi- 
culty of supposing that it was the invention of a body 
of Jews who had been deluded to follow a pretended 
Messiah. 

II. It may be thought, further, that a design like 
that attributed to the followers of Jesus would be 
greatly assisted by the prophecies recorded in their 
national Scriptures, and pointing to some remarkable 
personage who was expected to appear. 

1. For example: the time of this appearance was 
fixed by the prophet Daniel at about four hundred and 
ninety years from his own days; which so closely 
corresponded with the birth of Jesus, that such an 
event was looked for, by " devout persons," at the 
very period when it occurred.* This would be, as 
was before observed, a circumstance greatly in their 
favour. 

2. The next thing to be considered by the framers 
of this deceit, would be the place of their leader's birth, 
Jesus was born at Bethlehem. Upon consulting their 
Scriptures, they would find this passage respecting 
Bethlehem : " Thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though 
thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out 
of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be a 
ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of 
old, from everlasting."! This would prove, beyond 
what could be anticipated, an assistance to their de- 
sign. 



* Dan. ix. 24. Luke, ii. 25. 



f Micah, v. 2. 



96 CONNEXION OF CHRISTIANITY jJTITH 



3. It seemed to be intimated in the prophecies, that 
the deliverer who was to come should be preceded by 
a forerunner, who might awaken the attention of the 
people to him. For it was written, " The voice of 
him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way 
of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway 
for our God.''* And again, " Behold, I will send my 
messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me; 
and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come 
into his temple. "t Now it was notorious that a sin- 
gular character, John, called " the Baptist," had ap- 
peared a short time before Jesus began his ministry, 
pretending to be this messenger, and nothing more, 
and directing his followers to one who was to "come 
after him." This -was another coincidence equally 
wonderful and favourable."! 

4. v Further, as to the most important point; the way 
in which Jesus had lived, and been received, and died. 
His character, as represented in the Gospels, had been 
peculiar in every respect; but especially remarkable 
for the union of meekness and constancy which it dis- 
played. 

Of unknown origin and humble parentage, he had 
attracted considerable notice, and many followers; 
yet he had not been generally acknowledged among 

* Isai. xi 3. f Malachi, at, 1. 

£ If it should be thought that there is too much assumption here, 
in taking it for granted that the minstry of the Baptist, and the 
time and place of the birth of Jesus, were real facts; the objection 
has been met and answered in Chap. I. p. 17 — 22. 



THE JEWISH H 1 STORY AND SCRIP LURES. 97 

his countrymen, and those who adhered to him were 
not the great and powerful. His life, upon the whole, 
was one of trial and hardship, not one of triumph and 
exaltation. In the end, he was sentenced to death, 
with those notoriously wicked; and suffered a punish- 
ment, which even his judge confessed that his con- 
duct had not deserved. Yet though dying with male- 
factors, he was laid in a rich and honourable tomb.* 
A character answering this description was pour- 
trayed by that prophet, who had always been consi- 
dered as most particular in what respected the future 
Messiah. " Who hath believed our report; and to 
whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall 
grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root 
out of a dry ground; he hath no form nor comeliness; 
and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we 
should desire him. He is despised and rejected of 
men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; 
and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was des- 
pised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath 
borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did 
esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was 
bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our 
peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are heal- 
ed. All we like sheep have gone astray, and have 
turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath 
laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, 



* Matt, xxvii. 57 — 60. 
I 



98 



CONNEXION OF CHRISTIANITY WITH 



and he was afflicted^yet he opened not his mouth : he 
is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep 
before his shearers is dumb, even so he opened not 
his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judg- 
ment; and who shall declare his generation? for he 
was cut off out of the land of the living: for the trans- 
gression of my people was he stricken. And he made 
his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his 
death; because he had done no violence, neither was 
any deceit in his mouth."* 

It cannot be denied that the existence of these an- 
cient prophecies would be very advantageous to men 
setting out with the purpose in question. But it is 
time to ask, in our turn, how they came to find these 
prophecies ready to their hand? Prophecies of such a 
nature, that no man could have contrived a scheme 
dependent Upon them, because they could not com- 
mand the facts by which they were to be fulfilled. 
With respect to the birth-place, for example: in order 
that it might happen to be Bethlehem, it was requisite 
that a general census should be held, convening all the 
inhabitants of the country to their chief town; by 
which means alone the mother of Jesus was called 
away from her usual residence, and her infant born at 
Bethlehem, instead of Nazareth. The preparatory 
ministry of the Baptist was equally beyond the con- 
trol of the disciples. So were the minute details of in- 
cidents, which agree in a wonderful manner with the 



* Isai. liii. 



4 



THE JEWISH HISTORY AND SCRIPTURES. 



circumstantial narrative. The entrance of Jesus into 
Jerusalem, at once humble and triumphant.* The 
manner of his death, and his own countrymen the 
cause. t The peculiar indignities which he underwent: 
the very words of mockery used against him.J The 
price which Judas received for his treachery. The 
purpose to which that money was applied. § 

Passages of this nature could not have been intro- 
duced by the apostles into the existing Scriptures, be- 
cause, as their countrymen were generally hostile to 

* "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion : behold, thy king 
oometh unto thee; he is just, and having 1 salvation; lowly, and 
riding- upon an~ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass." — Compare 
Matt. xxi. 1, Stc. ; and Zech. ix. 9. 

f " And one shall say unto him, what are these -wounds in thy 
hands? Then he shall answer, those with which I was -wounded in 
the house of my friends." — Zech. xiii. 6. 

+ "I gave my back to the smiters,- and my cheeks to them that 
plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting" — 
Isai. 1. 6. " The assembly of the wicked have inclosed me. They 
pierced my hands and my feet : they stand staring and looking upon 
me. They part my garments among them> and cast lots upon my 
vesture. All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out 
the lip, and shake the head, saying, he trusted on the Lord that he 
tvoidd deliver him ; let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him" 
— Ps. xxii. " They gave me also gall for my meat ; and in my 
thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." — Ps. lxix. 20. Compare Matt, 
xxvii. 

§ " They weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the 
Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter ; a goodly price that I 
was prized at of them. And I took the pieces of silver, and cast 
them to the potter in the house of the Lord." — Zech. xi. 12. Matt, 
xxvi. 15. xxvii. 3, &c. 



100 



CONNEXION OF CHRISTIANITY WITH 



the design, such an attempt must have proved fatal to 
their pretensions. And further, because the books 
among which these scattered sentences are found, had 
now been extensively diffused during a period of three 
hundred years in a foreign language, defying the im- 
posture of the whole nation, if the whole nation had 
concurred in the design. 

We are reduced, then, to the necessity of supposing, 
that the followers of Jesus, desiring to deify their 
teacher, selected from their national Scriptures these 
pointed allusions to circumstances like his which hap- 
pened to be written there, and brought them forward 
to confirm his pretensions. 

But surely to ascribe coincidences like these to 
chance; to allege that all these. passages were thrown 
out at random in the Jewish Scriptures, and that the 
circumstances of the birth, and life, and character, and 
death of Jesus turned out so as to agree with them; is 
to attribute to chance what never did or could take 
place by chance; and in itself far more improbable 
than the event which such a solution is intended to 
disprove. For, allow to- Jesus the authority which he 
claims, and every difficulty vanishes. We should then 
expect to find prophetic intimations of his great pur- 
pose, and of the way in which it was to be effected. 
We should expect to find them, too, just what they 
are; not united and brought together in a way of for- 
mal description, which could only be a provision for 
imposture; but such scattered hints and allusions as 
after the event has occurred serve to show that it was 



THE JEWISH HISTORY AND SCRIPTURES. 



101 



predicted, by a comparison of the event and the pro- 
phecy. 

It ought to be observed, in addition, that if the dis- 
ciples of Jesus had framed their story and their repre- 
sentation of facts, with a view of obtaining this col- 
lateral support, they would have been more diligent 
and ostentatious in pointing out the circumstances of 
resemblance. They would have anticipated the la- 
bours of those writers who have made it their business 
to show the completion of prophecy in the events re- 
lated in the Gospels. But, on the contrary, they 
bring these things forward in an historical, rather than 
an argumentative way ; and commonly leave the deduc- 
tions which may be drawn from them to the discern- 
ment of after times. 

On these grounds I think myself justified in con- 
eluding, that the divine mission of Jesus receives a 
strong confirmation from the historical facts, the cere- 
monial rites,' and the ancient prophecies which cor= 
responded with the circumstances of his life, and the 
alleged object of his ministry and sufferings. 



I 2 



ON THE PHRASEOLOGY OF 



CHAPTER V. 

On the Phraseology of the Christian Scriptures. 

In examining the Christian writings, I am struck 
with the original and peculiar phrases by which the 
teachers of the Gospel recommended it to the notice 
of their countrymen. We have seen that they were 
innovators in doctrine. They were innovators in lan- 
guage too. Their writings abound with terms which 
can only be understood by reference to these doctrines, 
which were novel when they were first used; and, 
although they have now obtained such universal cur- 
rency as to sound familiar to our ears, derive their 
meaning entirely from the religion which they were 
employed to communicate and explain. 

3. " Behold, I bring you good tidings of great 
joy, zohich shall be to all people"* It is remarka- 
ble, that these words assume the truth of all which 
the religion purposes to declare. These good tidings 
were, the reconciliation of God with man. But why 
should this be proclaimed as good tidings to those who 
were feeling no distress, who were not aware that 
God was at enmity with them. 

So the proper term by which the religion was dis- 
tinguished, was not the law of Christ, or the doctrine 



* Luke, ii. 10, 



THE CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES. 



103 



of Jesus, as might be expected; but the good tidings ; 
the message of joy. Jesus, we are told, went about 
"preaching the Gospel," i. e. the glad tidings <£ of 
the kingdom of God." His command was, " Go ye 
into all the world, and preach the glad tidings to every 
creature." Paul declares, that his object was to "tes- 
tify the glad tidings of the grace of God." He says 
that Christ commissioned him to preach the joyful 
message : i. e. the Gospel.* 

Now, though it was very soon after the promulga- 
tion of the religion, that the word signify good tid- 
ings, which we translate Gospel, became comprehen- 
sively used for the religion itself ;t j^et there must 
have been a time when it bore no such meaning; but 
simply expressed to them who heard it the idea of fa- 
vourable news.J When it expressed this idea, and 
this idea alone, the authors of Christianity seized upon 
it to communicate the import of the religion which 
they intended to teach. And yet to understand that 

* Mark, i. 15; xvi. 15. Acts, xx. 24. 1 Cor. i. 17. 

f Mark, via. 35. Rom. i. 1. 1 Thes. i. 5. 1 Tim. i. 11. 

t "The Greek verb evctyfeXtov, when first used by the Evange* 
lists; or the Hebrew bashar, when used by the prophets; or the 
Syriac sabar, as most probably used by our Lord and his Apostles, 
conveyed to their countrymen only one and the same idea, which 
is precisely what the phrase, to bring 1 good tidings, conve} r s to us/ 9 
—Campbell, Prel. Disc. i. 149. 

EvatyffA/ev, translated Gospel, bears the sense of good news five 
times in the Septuagint : once, the reward of good news. The word 
Gospel, in its Saxon etymology, is an exact counterpart of the Greek' 
syayffPwey. Ibid, 



104 



ON THE PHRASEOLOGY OF 



import, requires a previous knowledge of what the 
religion declares. To believe that it brings good tid- 
ings, is to admit its truth. If, indeed, the new religion 
had consisted merely in a promise of eternal happiness 
to all who embraced it, we could more easily account 
for the term by which it was introduced. But the an- 
swer to the question which must have been often put, 
What good tidings do you acquaint us with ? would 
be to this effect : God has so loved the world as to send 
his only Son to make atonement for sin, that all that 
believe in him may not perish, may be saved from 
everlasting condemnation, and enjoy everlasting life. 
The angels, who made known to the shepherds the 
birth of Jesus, are represented as giving this very ex- 
planation. I bring you good tidings, " for unto you 
is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour." 
Those who have been brought to acknowledge the 
promises on which the Gospel rests, will understand 
that these are glad tidings. But I cannot believe that 
this is language which any set of men, undertaking 
the scheme ascribed to the Apostles, would stumble 
upon by accident, or select from deliberation. It 
would not naturally occur : and it would involve them 
in unnecessary difficulties. They would surely have 
chosen some term more simple and less embarrassing. 

2. Another term which is frequently used to express 
the new religion, conducts us to the same conclusion. 
Our translators render it grace. The original word 
simply bears the meaning of favour, kindness, or 
mercy; and, of course, when put for the religion 



THE CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES. 



105 



itself, must imply that this was viewed in the light of 
mercy or favour. Thus it was contrasted with the 
Jewish dispensation. " We are not under the law, 
but under mercy." — " The law was given by Moses, 
but grace (favour, mercy) came by Jesus Christ."* 
So when the disciples are exhorted to constancy in 
their profession, this is expressed by. their continuing 
" in the grace of God:" implying that this religion 
had restored them to his favour.t By unworthy con- 
duct, on the other hand, some are said to have " fallen 
from his-grace" or mercy; and others are warned 
against similar transgression, lest they should " re- 
ceive the grace" or favour " of God in vain. "$ This 
again displays, in a strong light, the view which its 
teachers entertained of the nature of the religion, and 
the way in which they had accustomed their converts 
to regard it, as a merciful interposition on the part of 
God and increases the difficulty of supposing that 
they spoke the language of imposture, and not of con- 
viction. 

3. There is less to surprise us in the title ascribed 
by the Apostles to Jesus, as the Saviour, because the 
Jews were expecting a deliverer, and that expectation 
has been supposed to pave the way for the new reli- 
gion. But the usage of the word saved throughout the 
Christian Scriptures is very peculiar.§ -It is used to 

* Rom. vi. 14. John, i. 17. f Acts, xyL 43. 

* Gal. v. 4. 2 Cor. vi. 1. 

§ Schleusner's interpretation sufficiently shows this: — a-c3^6<rSeti, 
felicem esse, vel fieri; sternam fclicitatem consequi; amplecti 



.106 



ON THE PHRASEOLOGY OF 



signify escape from the divine wrath, in a positive and 
naked manner, which is different from any thing oc- 
curring elsewhere, even in the Jewish writings.* 
" Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners." — 
fci It pleased God to save them that believe." — "I 
became all things to all men, that I might save some." 
— " Who then shall be saved?" — "Are there few that 
shall be saved?"—" The Lord added to the church 
daily such as should be saved '."t 

This expression is not derived from any ideas pre- 
viously existing. It originates altogether in the pur- 
pose borne on the face of the religion which its authors 
were employed to introduce. It. proves how closely 
the object professed by that religion was interwoven 
with the thoughts and imprinted on the language of 
its teachers. To embrace Christianity, was to be saved. 
A confidence in the truth of what they preached is 
implied in this, which could scarcely be assumed 
where it was not felt, and scarcely felt without strong 
grounds for conviction. 

4. The word translated righteousness, also bears 

religionem Christianam, et per earn emendari ac remissionem 
peccatorum et felicitatem perennem obtinere. So that the word 
G-o^erQcit cannot be adequately rendered except by a periphrasis 
to this effect, "to embrace the Christian faith, and through that to 
obtain pardon of sin and eternal happiness." 

* The passage most similar is found in Jeremiah, xvii. 17. Iccrat 
y,s, zvpie, xat i6t6r,G-6ftste (rarov p.e t xai FuQqrofto&tj on Kdv^r^x 

TV £1, 

t T*s ra&fievxt. those (that were) saved. Acts, ii. 47. 



THE CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES. 



107 



an entirely new sense in the Christian Scriptures. Its 
original meaning is justice, integrity; sometimes, 
goodness, benignity. In the Gospel it often carries a 
distinct meaning, acquittal or acceptance ivith God. 

We read of " the righteousness of God which is by 
faith in Jesus Christ:" we read, that " the Gentiles, 
which followed not after righteousness, have attained 
to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of 
faith : but Israel, which followed after the law of 
righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteous- 
ness."* These, and many other sentences of the same 
import, are absolutely unintelligible, without an ac- 
quaintance with the religion to which they refer. But 
when the principles of the Christian doctrine are ex- 
plained, we perceive what is meant; namely, that the 
heathens, who, being ignorant of their Creator, sought 
no acquaintance with him, have obtained acquittal 
through faith in Christ; but that the Jews, who did 
seek acceptance with him through observance of the 
Mosaic law, have not obtained acquittal. So the Chris- 
tian faith is called the " way of righteousness:" its 
doctrine, " the word of righteousness :" its ministers, 
(i the ministers of righteousness :" its profession, "the 
righteousness of God." When these phrases are ex- 
amined, they are found to imply, that righteousness, 
i. e. justification in the sight of God, as a moral Go- 
vernor, and acquittal before him as our Judge, is to be 
obtained in no other way than through reliance on the 



* Rom. ni. 22; ix.30,31. 



10$ 



OX THE PHRASEOLOGY 03? 



atonement made by Jesus on the cross. And this usage 
of the word is only warranted by the fact which is the 
groundwork of the Gospel : that God has covenanted 
to accept those as righteous, i. e. as justified at his bar, 
who embrace the way of salvation offered in the Gos- 
pel. The belief is strongly impressed upon our natural 
feelings, that, " if there is a God, he must delight in 
virtue." But experience universally declares, that no 
human virtue will bear examination according to the 
law of perfect holiness. Tried therefore by that law, 
no man is righteous, acquitted, or justified in the 
sight of God. This opens the way for " the righteous- 
ness of faith j" for that justification or acceptance with 
God, which follows a trust in Jesus. And such is the 
new sense which is attached to the word 'righteous- 
ness by the Apostles.* 

* Atx-atorvvv, Justitia, est doctrina Cbristi, Matt. v. 10; vi. 33; 
xxi. 32. 2 Pet. ii. 20. et in Epistola ad Romanos passim. Wetstein. 
The title, " the Lord our righteousness," Jer. xxiii. 6, is easily ex- 
plained from the New Testament ; but without it, would not have 
established any such doctrine. It is scarcely necessary, in the pre- 
sent day, to allude to Taylor's bold substitution of the words deli- 
verance or salvation for righteousness. If St. Paul, in the first chap- 
ters of his Epistle to the Romans, is not inquiring how mankind 
may be justified, in a forensic sense, at the bar of Gocl, he cannot 
be said to argue at all. Neither does he argue, according to Taylor's 
translation. As in the passages, "that he might be gracious, and 
the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus." Where is the antithe- 
sis of the original, ei$ to eivat etvlov AIKAION kcu AIKAIOYNTA 
tov ex Trio-Tea^ Ijjra? And what would be the purpose of the 
succeeding question, " where is boasting then ?" So again, he 
translates, Rom. iii. 3. Abraham believed, and it was counted to 



THE CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES. 



109 



Now, we know that it is a long process by which 
a word comes to bear a particular sense, especially if 
that sense be complex, and include more than one 
idea. The process is more difficult when the word is 
of common use, and is wrested from its natural or 
conventional import. So that we may reasonably be 
surprised to find that a word so familiar as that which 
expresses justice or goodness, should, within the short 
space of fifteen or twenty years, be habitually em- 
ployed to signify acquittal before God, or all that is 
contained in the theological term justification. The 
idea that justification is to be sought through Jesus, 
must have been familiar to the mind of the writers, in 
a degree which can scarcely be imagined without sup- 
posing personal conviction. 

The employment of this ordinary word in an ex- 
traordinary signification, proves also the novelty of 
the doctrine conveyed by it. Had there been nothing 
original in that doctrine, it would not have required 
an original term. Had the Christian religion been no- 
thing more than a modification of the Jewish faith, the 
phrases which had been employed in the one would 
not have been changed, or extended their signification 
in the other. 

5. The corruption of human nature, and the neces- 
sity of regeneration, as it was the professed cause of 

him for a grant of favour,- and, v. 5, his faith is counted for salva- 
tion. Paraph, on Rom. ch. 16. in his "Key to the Apostolic Wri- 
tings." 

K 



110 



ON THE PHRASEOLOGY OE 



his appearance in the world, so it forms a prominent 
part of the teaching of Jesus and his Apostles. This 
leads to the usage of the word flesh and its deriva- 
tives, for corrupt nature, in a sense altogether origi- 
nal.* " That which is born of the flesh, is flesh." 
t{ The natural (or fleshly) man cannot receive the 
things of God."t What a volume of doctrine is con- 
centrated in these short sentences ! To " live in the 
flesh," to " walk after the flesh/' are phrases familiar- 
ly used in Scripture for a life led after the natural de- 
sires and propensities of the heart. But what mean- 
ing have they, till the difference between the spiritual 
and carnal life is first established? till it is understood 
to be the object of a religion divinely instituted, to 
take men out of a state of nature, in which they are 
enemies of God through the corruption that is in 
them, and to renew their hearts after the divine image, 
which bears the stamp of " righteousness and true ho- 
liness?'^ These do not sound like the inventions of 
human teachers. I cannot think that it was a self-in- 
structed or unauthorized reformer who first laid down 
the distinction, "That which is born of the flesh, is 
flesh ; and that which is born of the spirit, is spirit."§ 
6. The word faith affords a similar instance. For 
by the terms faith, or believing, in the New Testa- 
ment, that is not generally meant which is required, 

* The existence of the term in the Septuagint, Gen. vi. 3. will 
hardly be thought to invalidate this assertion, 
f John. iii. 6. ■*v%<ko$. l Cor. ii. 14. 
t See Col. iii. 10. Eph. iv. 24. § John, iii. 6. 



THE CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES. 



Ill 



as of course, in the case of any divine revelation, a be- 
lief of its truth, and a patient expectation of its pro- 
mises. The sense which the word often bears in the 
apostle's language is as peculiar, as the doctrine on 
which its meaning depends, is original. Faith is re- 
presented as the channel through which the benefits 
of the death of Jesus are conveyed to the believer. 
For as the doctrine of Christianity is, that he has un- 
dertaken to deliver from divine wrath all who trust in 
him, and to bestow on them eternal happiness; the 
characteristic of the religion is faith ; and those who 
are invited to receive the religion, are invited to rely 
upon Jesus ; to put their confidence in him ; to depend 
upon him. 

To see the force of this argument, consider the 
phrases : " Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou 
shalt be saved." " Being justified by faith, we have 
peace with God." " Do we then make void the law 
through faith?" " The Gentiles have attained the 
righteousness which is of faith"* All this, written 
within twenty years of the death of Jesus, shows the 
substantial and solid form which the religion early at- 
tained, and the deep roots w T hich its leading doctrine 
had struck. The words, trust in Christ ; by trust 
we are saved ; — what idea would they convey, when 
heard for the first time? How much must be explain- 
ed, to render them intelligible ? Yet all this had been 
so explained as to become familiar, and to enable the 



* Acts, xvi. 31. Eom. v. 1. Hi. 31. ix. 30, 



112 ON THE PHRASEOLOGY OF, &C 



apostles to write without circumlocution, of salvation 
through faith in him, who, but a few years before, had 
been despised, rejected, and condemned. 

Even to this day the phrases here discussed would 
appear too singular, too technical for general conver- 
sation, or writings of a general nature. How can this 
be accounted for, if there was nothing extraordinary 
in their origin, nothing beyond the thoughts naturally 
occurring to men, and very ordinary men? 

Here, again, I cannot fail to observe, that this is 
exactly what we should expect if the religion were 
divine. It was an original revelation of the purpose 
of God. Therefore it required fresh phrases to con- 
vey it. For words follow ideas. If the ideas were 
new, they could not be expressed without some inno- 
vation in language. But can we be contented with 
believing, that such an innovation was attempted and 
effected by such persons as the first Christian teachers 
were, if they were not what they professed to be ; i. e. 
if they had no authority to warrant them, and procure 
them attention ? Did such men give a new turn to lan- 
guage, and strike out notions which they could not 
even express in terms hitherto employed ? 



AGREEMENT OF CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES, &C 113 



CHAPTER VI. 

Agreement of Christian Scriptures with subsequent 
Experience. 

In the previous chapters it has been my object to 
show, that the teachers of Christianity, when they 
framed the religion which they introduced, could de- 
rive no assistance from the existing opinions or pre- 
judices of their country; but that, in truth, instead of 
following they opposed them all, or directed them 
into a new channel. In a word, their doctrines were 
original. 

But in addition to the remarkable fact that men who, 
by the consent of all antiquity as well as by internal 
evidence, are known to have been uneducated and 
obscure, should deviate by accident, or strike out by 
design, into so much consistent originality: I observe, 
further, that these writings indicate, in the writers, a 
wonderful foreknowledge of the manner in which their 
original doctrines should be received, and of the ef- 
fects which they should hereafter produce. 

There was nothing in the situation, habits, or educa- 
tion of a Jew, particularly of a Jew of Galilee, which 
could inspire him with the knowledge required in or- 
der to these predictions. He had been bred up in a 
country which was not the general resort of foreign- 
ers, or of people of various sentiments, manners, and 
k 2 



114 AGREEMENT OF CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES 



reli gions; but where opinion had run to a remarkable 
degree, in an uniform channel. The mind of a native 
of one of the provinces of Judea, had never, probably, 
in its most active state, speculated beyond the dispute 
between his countrymen and the Samaritans, concern- 
ing their national privileges, or between the Pharisees 
and Sadducees concerning a resurrection, or between 
the strict and thedax interpreters of the Mosaic law, 
There is nothing contradictory to this notion in the 
few apocryphal books which have come down to us, 
as specimens of the Jewish writings. They contain 
allusions to the history of their ancestors, fictions re- 
specting angels, visions of heavenly things; — and in 
consequence of the advantage which the writers en- 
joyed from an acquaintance with the prophetic and 
other sacred books, they often surprise us with su- 
blime and magnificent speculations concerning God 
and his judgments ; but they exhibit few traces of hu- 
man character or conduct ; little of discriminate know- 
ledge of mankind. Their style is as different from 
that of the Christian Scriptures, as the book of Psalms 
from the books of the Evangelists, or the prophecies 
of Isaiah from the epistles of Paul. 

The Christian Scriptures, especially the five histo- 
rical books, are of a very different description ; in- 
deed very unlike any thing that might be expected 
from writers of that age or country. They abound 
with the knowledge of men. They are full of scenes 
and characters, which if they were not real, not co- 
pied from the life, but invented by the power of the 



WITH SUBSEQUENT EXPERIENCE. 



115 



imagination, discover a dramatic spirit which would 
hardly have confined itself to the fictitious narrative 
of the proceedings of a " sect every where spoken 
against." Evidence of this kind is not of a nature to 
be drawn out into proofs, and put into syllogistic 
form; but it is not the less forcible: and is such as 
every reader may judge of, who will take the trouble 
to look through the history with this idea in view. 

But it must be remarked more particularly, that 
we find concentrated here a description of characters 
which, when they were originally pourtrayed, had 
no living model, but were to arise out of circumstances 
in which the conduct of mankind had not hitherto 
been seen or tried. Without assuming the truth of 
the Gospel, we may acknowledge that wherever it is 
received, whether justly or not, as of divine authority, 
it has placed men in a new situation: by discovering 
to them relations not before apprehended, by opening 
to them prospects not before known, by awakening fa- 
culties not before exercised. But the Gospel displays, 
within itself, a prophetic insight into the behaviour of 
men under these new relations and in this untried 
condition. And, more remarkably still, that insight 
is commonly shown by allusions and hints not fully 
developed, but manifesting in the original author of 
them a perfect acquaintance with circumstances and 
cases which should arise hereafter. Declarations, 
warnings, descriptions occur, which require a key. 
The characters or circumstances which the Gospel has 
produced, supply that key. But could such men a 



116 AGREEMENT OF CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES 



first set out to preach the Gospel, have possessed this 
foreknowledge? Could any men have possessed it? If 
they had ventured to conjecture at all upon a subject 
so uncertain as human conduct in a case so delicate as 
religion, would their conjectures have been verified 
by the subsequent experience of eighteen hundred 
years? What would have been thought of Columbus, 
if, instead of merely persevering till he reached a 
country of whose existence he was assured, he had 
undertaken to describe the rivers, mountains, or in- 
habitants which it contained, and the reception he 
should meet with there? And if he had hazarded such 
a prophecy, and the event had turned out according 
to his predictions, we should look upon him as some- 
thing more than an enterprising adventurer. 

The discourses, however, of Jesus, are full of anti- 
cipatory warnings and precepts, which show that the 
whole map of the future proceedings of his disciples 
was laid as it were open to his view. And many of 
these presumed on consequences from the doctrines 
to be promulgated, some of which would not have 
seemed probable beforehand to human expectations, 
and others would not have been openly declared by 
an impostor, if they had been foreseen. 

I. One instance of this nature, was the persecu- 
tion which Jesus taught his disciples to expect. It 
was not, indeed, unnatural to anticipate that a nation, 
so bigoted as the Jews, should oppose the introduction 
of a religion which was to supersede their law; or 
that even the idolatrous Gentiles, however in many 



WITH SUBSEQUENT EXPERIENCE. 



117 



respects indifferent to matters of religion, should dis- 
play an attachment to their superstitions when an at- 
tempt was made to shake them, which their previous 
apathy had concealed. Therefore I should found no 
argument upon the prophecy, if it were merely writ- 
ten in general, " Whosoever will save his life shall 
lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake 
and the Gospel's, the same shall save it."* Some 
such encouragement as this must be held out by every 
enthusiast; as it was by Mohammed, when he re- 
served extraordinary rewards for an} 7 proselyte who 
should fall in battle in defence of his faith. 

But the mode in which the persecution of Chris- 
tians is spoken of, is not in the way of an ordinary 
command to maintain the faith or support the autho- 
rity of their Master. It discovers an exact acquaint- 
ance with the sort of attack which they w 7 ould com- 
monly be forced to undergo. " Blessed are they who 
are persecuted for righteousness' sake" " Blessed are 
ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and 
say all manner of evil against you falsely for my 
sake."t " Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, 
and when they shall separate you from their compa- 
ny, and shall reproach and cast out your name as 
evil for the Son of man's sake.";}: " If they have call- 
ed the master of the house Beelzebub, how much 
more them of his household ?"§ " If the world hate 



* Mark, viii. 35. 

* Luke, vi. 22. 



f Matt. v. 10, 11. 
§ John, xv. 18, 



t!8 AGREEMENT OF CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES 

you, ye know that it hated me, before it hated you.' 7 * 
" All that will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suf- 
fer persecution." " If ye be reproached for the name 
of Christ, happ) r are ye; for the spirit of glory and 
of God resteth upon )'Ou: on their part he is evil 
spoken of, but on your part he is glorified."! 

It is clearly intimated in these passages, that the 
persecution of Christians should be for righteonsiiess' 
sake: that the peculiar piety and strictness of life de- 
manded of them by their faith in Jesus, and. practised 
for his sake, should be generally disliked, and cast in 
their teeth as a reproach. And it is a certain fact, that 
this species of persecution has existed under the dispen- 
sation of the Gospel. Yet I do not see that it was to be 
previously expected. That the name of Jesus should 
be odious to those who found their prejudices assault- 
ed, or their interests endangered, was sufficiently na- 
tural. But that the particular objection made to his 
disciples should be taken from their adherence to the 
strictest rules of temperance, moderation, and piety: 
in short, should be for righteousness' sake; arose 
from a trait of human nature which had not been be- 
fore exhibited, and could only be foreseen by him 
who " knew what was in man." It had not been be- 
fore exhibited, because no philosophical teachers, such 
as the world had hitherto seen, had made the duties 
relating to a man's self, or those which regard God, 
equally binding, and defined them as strictly, as those 



* Matt x. 25. 



f 2 Tim. iii. 12. 1 Pet. iv. 14. 



WITH SUBSEQUENT EXPERIENCE. 



119 



which concern his neighbour. In social duties it has 
never been pretended that any one can be too exact 
or too fearful of offending. But a similar exactness in 
habits of personal virtue, as purity, sobriety, modera- 
tion, patience, humility, as also in habits of piety, has 
excited, in almost every age, more or less virulent 
suspicion and reproach. 

Indisputably these virtues were one cause of the ab- 
horrence in which the Christians were held in the early 
ages. For it was not an uncommon species of trial to 
solicit them to the commission of crimes which their 
religion forbade, with no less an offer than exemption 
from martyrdom. Even to the present hour the crime 
of too much religion is held in a degree of dread and 
dislike, which is not easily accounted for. Many per- 
sons, whpse own moral character is irreproachable, 
seem to fear it more, and think it a greater misfor- 
tune in one for whom they are interested, than the 
extreme of vanity or extravagance. Acknowledging 
the authority of sentences like these: "Strive to en- 
ter in at the straight gate; for many will seek to enter 
in, and shall not be able:" — "seek ye first the king- 
dom of God and his righteousness:" — " broad is the 
way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be 
that go in thereat:" — "many are called, but few 
chosen:" — acknowledging the authority which uttered 
these sentences, many shrink from the conduct which 
acts upon them as true ; deem any such watchfulness 
superfluous, as a sense of danger must induce; any 
such zeal enthusiastic as the importance of the object 



120 AGREEMENT OF CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES 



would naturally inspire. If this apprehension arose 
from experience of real evils resulting from a zealous 
pursuit of scriptural righteousness, it would be reason- 
able, and the hostility in question no matter of sur- 
prise. But this cannot be asserted. There may have 
been victims of fanaticism. But let all of these, from 
the time of the apostles to the present day, be sum- 
med up together, they would not approach by a hun- 
dredth part the number of the victims of libertinism. 
Mischief may have been done by false views or im- 
pressions of religion. But if the whole of this mis- 
chief could be brought before us, it would not amount 
to a thousandth part of that which has arisen from the 
want of any religion. Of all the chimerical evils 
which the imagination of man ever alarmed itself with, 
the danger of a too scrupulous fear of displeasing God, 
or a too earnest desire to serve him, is the least really 
formidable. Yet we have daily occasion to observe, 
that many far greater evils are much less dreaded, and 
many worse errors more easily pardoned. 

And this, T argue, could not have been foreseen by 
mere human intelligence. It was a new case : it was 
an improbable case : not that those whose situation 
might oblige them to reprove or restrain the vices of 
others, should become objects of hatred ; this might 
have been anticipated ; but that silent piety, conscien- 
tious temperance, unresisting patience should be treat- 
ed as contemptible, and opposed as pernicious. Yet 
this case was clearly foreseen and provided for by the 
authors of the Gospel. It was foreseen, not as arising 



WITH SUBSEQUENT EXPERIENCE. 



121 



from the mischief of such deportment, which cannot 
be pretended ; but from the nature of the human heart, 
That the seat of the enmity was known to be deeply 
buried there, is intimated in the words, " Marvel not, 
if the world hate you. If you ivere of the world, 
the world would love his own ; but because ye are 
not of the world, therefore the world hateth you"* 
Here it is predicted, first, that the disciples of Jesus 
should form " a peculiar people," opposing, in their 
general conduct, " the course of this world and fur- 
ther, that even under the success and dominion of 
Christianity, they shall be surrounded by multitudes 
who despise and avoid them. And thus hitherto it 
has ever proved. Independently of those before alluded 
to, who, holding the name of religion in respect, seem 
afraid of its reality ; there have always been many, in 
a nominally Christian community, who have made a 
law for themselves altogether distinct from the Chris- 
tian law : a law of which " profaneness, neglect of 
public worship, or of private devotion, cruelty to ser- 
vants, rigorous treatment of tenants or other depend- 
ents, want of charity to the poor, injuries done to 
tradesmen by insolvency or delay of payment, are 
not accounted breaches ; a law which allows of forni- 
cation, adultery, drunkenness, prodigality, duelling, 
and of revenge in the extreme; and lays no stress 
upon the virtues opposite to these. "t 

* 1 John, iii. 13. John, xv. 19. 

f Paley's Mor. Phil. 1. 1, c. 2.— His description of the Law of 
Honour. 



122 AGREEMENT OF CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES 



Therefore, although many points are to be found in 
which the Christian who is true to his profession 
agrees with those who acknowledge no such obliga- 
tion; there are other points in which they must always 
differ; and that difference will be followed by con- 
tempt, or dislike, or ridicule, in a greater or less de- 
gree, according to the respective characters of the 
parties; according as the one is more or less under the 
control of conscience, and the other more or less gifted 
with talents or discretion. The Christian cannot resent 
an injury ; cannot join in loose discourse ; cannot coun- 
tenance diversions which favour the corruption of the 
heart ; cannot be a gamester, for example ; cannot be 
indifferent as to the employment of his time: he can- 
not, therefore, be a favourite with men who have no 
views beyond this world. For the declarations of the 
Gospel have never yet taken such general hold in a 
community, that strictness in these points has not been 
singular, and therefore attended with the consequences 
of being singular in a crowd. 

The sentences which allude to the severest of all 
trials, that of being "reviled, and spoken evil of 
falsely and encourage Christians to suffer such a 
trial patiently, display a similar foresight of the pe- 
culiar lot which awaited them. Professing, beyond 
others, the zealous service of God, they were accused 
of atheism ; and renouncing beyond others the profli- 
gate habits which generally prevailed, their characters 
were aspersed with the foulest calumnies. From all 
the early accounts respecting the treatment of Chris» 



WITH SUBSEQUENT EXPERIENCE. 



123 



iians, and the opinions which were current concerning 
them, we learn that there was no crime of which they 
were not accused; nor any virtue which was not con- 
strued into a crime when it belonged to them. They 
were called useless members of society, because they 
did not struggle for temporal advancement. In the 
persecution under Domitian, among others whose 
names have been neglected by history, Flavius Clemens 
was put to death, a relative of the emperor. The his- 
torian who relates the fact, accuses Clemens of the 
most despicable indolence ;* probably, because he had 
shown an indifference to worldly honours, though his 
two sons had been destined to succeed to the throne 
of the Caesars. The reasonable and philosophical Pliny, 
though he could not find any subject of animadversion 
against the Christians in his province, had no hesita- 
tion in punishing their inflexible obstinacy^ The 
stoic Marcus characterizes in the same manner their 
readiness to die for their religion and thus gave just 
cause for the complaint of their apologist,§ that the 
patience and resolution which were admired in Regu- 
lus, were condemned in a Christian. The historians of 
that age, who speak of them, betray a malevolence of 
hatred which must have required all the encourage- 
ment that a prophetic warning was calculated to sup- 

* Suet. Domit. ch. xv. On this accusation, see Tertull. Apol. c 
42. 

t Plin. Ep. p. 725. Varior. 
% Lib. ii. s. 3. 
§ Tertull. 40, 



124 AGREEMENT OF CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES 



ply.* Public misfortunes were attributed to them in 
the light of judgments. t The most nefarious practices 
were said to take place at their private meetings, a 
constant subject of remonstrance with the writers who 
defend their cause.:}: Pliny mentions with evident 
surprise the description which he obtained of their 
assemblies, as being attended with no worse evil than 
an engagement to abstain from sin.§ 

Traces of the same unreasonable enmity, whenever 
Christianity becomes an operative principle, may be 

* " Per flagitia invisos vulgus Christiancs appellabat. Exitiabilis 
superstitio." — Tacitus. " Christiani, genus hominum superstitionis 
r.ovce et malefic^." — Suetonius. " Superstitio prava et immodica." 
—Pliny. 

f Tertul. Apol. 20. 

i Justin Martyr, Apol. I. ; which led Antoninus Pius to denounce 
capital punishment against false accusers of Christians : an edict 
which wonderfully illustrates and confirms Matt. v. 11. 

§ " Christians have been called superstitious, and yet they have 
been called atheists ,• when particulars come to be examined, the 
superstition appears to be professing a religion very different from 
that of their ancestors ; and the atheism, despising all the heathen 
gods, and holding no communion with their worshippers, as such. 
Christians have been called loxv, and illiterate, and mean, and yet 
they have been called -vise, versed in magic and necromancy : on 
examination, their vulgarity seems to have been nothing more than 
plainness and industry in useful occupations; their powers of ma- 
gic, miraculous powers. Lastly, Christians have been called lazy 
and indolent-, and yet they have been called restless and busy ; their 
indolence was a want of the common endeavours to get money j 
so that they had nothing to give the gods; their restlessness, a great 
assiduity in doing good, in succouring their distressed brethren ; 
and perhaps in converting their acquaintance to Christianity,"— 
Hey's Lectures, B. I. eh, xviii. s. si. 



WITH SUBSEQUENT EXPERIENCE. 



125 



discovered throughout the whole history of the Church. 
When the Reformers first began to awaken the Chris- 
tian world from its long continued lethargy, calum- 
nies bore an important part among the various weapons 
by which they were opposed. And even in happier 
and more enlightened times, no persons are treated 
with so little candour and indulgence as those who 
come remarkably forward in religion. With a large 
portion of the community, their zeal meets with less 
favour, than the actual vices of other men. Their 
motives are misrepresented, their faults exaggerated; 
they are condemned for those feelings in religion, 
which in any other case would be considered honour- 
able; the very titles by which as Christians they are 
characterized in their own Scriptures, are alleged 
against them as a reproach. All this, to us, is matter 
of experience ; but how came it to be to Jesus a sub- 
ject of prophecy? How came he to foresee that his 
followers should be treated in a way in which no other 
men are treated, simply because they are his follow- 
ers, and, in obedience to his precepts, " take up their 
cross daily, and deny themselves?" 

II. Another prediction of the same nature, equally 
improbable at a distance, and equally verified by the 
result, is that which foretold the divisions and dissen- 
tions that should accompany the propagation of the 
Gospel. " Suppose ye that I arn come to give peace 
on earth? I tell you, nay; but rather division. For 
f rom henceforth there shall be five in one house di- 
vided, three against two, and two against three, 

L 2 



126 AGREEMENT OF CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES 



The father shall be divided against the son, and the 
son against the father; the mother against the daugh- 
ter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother- 
in-law against her daughter-in-law, and the daughter- 
in-law against her mother in law." " And a man's 
foes shall be they of his own household."* 

This prediction has been accurately fulfilled in the 
primitive ages, and at various subsequent periods when 
the Church has been subject to persecution. The 
early defenders of Christianity made it a formal com- 
plaint, that the nearest relations, when any occasion of 
dispute happened, revenged themselves on the objects 
of their enmity, by laying an accusation against them 
as Ch? , istians, which rendered them liable to exa- 
mination, imprisonment, or death. t 

But the words go farther than this, and imply, that 
from the time when the religion which Jesus was now 
teaching should have possession in the world, differ- 
ence of opinion would prevail concerning it which 
would prove stronger than natural affection, and re- 
quire natural affection to be sacrificed. For the re- 
linquishment of relations and friends is included 
among the duties which his followers may be called to 
exercise ; and he affirms, whoever " loveth father or 
mother more than me, is not worthy of me ; and he 
that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not wor- 
thy of me.":}: 

* Luke, xii. 51. Matt. x. 36. 

f Milnor, i. 207 ; and an interesting example from Justin, p. 191. 
iMatt. x. 37. 



WITH SUBSEQUENT EXPERIENCE. 



127 



Did it appear probable that such should be the effect 
of a religion like the Christian? which inculcates 
peace, forbearance, charity, good-will towards all men; 
which allows no lower measure of love to others, than 
that which we bear towards ourselves; which pro- 
hibits envy, by teaching humility ; which restrains 
anger, by requiring meekness and patience ; which 
cuts up malice by the roots, by forbidding the very 
approach to dissention. Surely an ordinary teacher 
would not have ventured upon this seeming contra- 
diction between the precepts which he enforced, and 
the practice which he foretold. 

What reason indeed was there for imagining, that 
such could be the effect of any religion? The world 
had hitherto had no experience of the kind. The di- 
visions here predicted, suppose an earnestness, an 
anxiety, a sensibility on the subject of religion, of 
which no trace had existed beyond the Jewish nation, 
and which a law so literal as theirs gives less scope 
for than the comprehensive precepts of the Gospel : 
among other nations it had been utterly unknown. 

Injunctions such as these: "Not to love the world, 
nor the things of the world ; " not to be conformed to 
the world ;" not to "lay up treasure on earth, but in 
heaven ;" to " resist not evil ;" to " seek first the king- 
dom of God and his righteousness with numerous 
other passages which occur in the Gospel to the same 
effect; have always been interpreted with different de- 
grees of strictness, even among those who acknow- 
ledge their obligation} and have always been practi- 



12S AGREEMENT OF CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES 



cally neglected by many, who nevertheless do not 
deny the authority from which they proceed. Thus 
much, it will be thought, was easily deducible from 
the nature of human character. But was it obvious, 
that these differences would not exist, even among 
members of the same family, without producing an 
acrimonious feeling, and often a high degree of ran- 
cour and animosity ? 

Nothing can be more contrary to both the letter 
and the spirit of the Gospel, than these angry feel- 
ings. It inculcates all those graces and qualities of 
mind, which soften the impression of dislike resulting 
from difference of sentiment. It recommends every 
possible tenderness even towards those who underva- 
lue or neglect religion. It suggests reasons, which, if 
properly understood or considered, must always pre- 
vent those who profess and cordially embrace it, from 
engaging in vehement contention. Yet experience 
has proved, that dissentions and enmity are frequent- 
ly excited from no other cause than an indifference of 
this world's advantages on the one side, and a pursuit 
of them on the other. 

This was now about to be witnessed for the first 
time, because Christianity was about to stir up in the 
world, for the first time to any considerable degree, re- 
ligious earnestness, and sensibility. And its author 
described from the beginning, even whilst the parts 
were not yet completed and put together, this power- 
ful moral engine in future operation: he described the 
results, which should proceed from the new relations 



WITH SUBSEQUENT EXPERIENCE. 



129 



under which it brought mankind, and from the new 
springs of action which it has set at work. An im- 
postor might have done this, where it was likely to 
favour his scheme; but would he have done it, where 
it was likely to raise a prejudice against him ? An en- 
thusiast might have attempted this; but would the re- 
sults have answered his predictions? 

III. The argument which I am endeavouring to 
illustrate, is strongly corroborated by the allusions 
which the discourses of Jesus contain to the reception 
which his doctrines should afterwards meet with among 
mankind. 

He assumes, in the first place, that his religion shall 
spread, and make its way, and establish itself far and 
wide. It was an original thought, in that age, and 
warranted by no experience, to conceive the idea of 
extending a religion throughout the world. The Jew- 
ish religion, the one immediately before the eyes of 
the teachers of Christianity, had existed fifteen hun- 
dred years, likewise claiming the authority of the 
Creator, and fortified by many of the same sanctions^ 
yet had made little progress beyond the bounds of one 
small territory. No change of importance had occur- 
red in the religions of Syria, Persia, Greece, or Italy. 
No symptoms appeared that these countries were in a 
dissatisfied, inquiring state. All was to be awakened 
and excited. Yet in the midst of this dead calm, and 
spiritual stagnation, provision is made for proselyting 
the world. Jesus, when he had no other assistance 
than that of a few obscure followers, confidently pre- 



130 AGREEMENT OF CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES 



diets that his religion shall take root, and extend, and 
become universal. " The kingdom of heaven," he 
said, " is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man 
took, and sowed in his field; which indeed is the least 
of all seeds; but when it is grown, it is the greatest 
among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of 
the air come and lodge in the branches thereof."* 
And in another comparison, he describes with asto- 
nishing accuracy, the way in which it should gain foot- 
ing. " The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, 
which a woman took and hid in three measures of 
meal, till the whole was leavened."! Peculiar as this 
comparison is, none could be found which should more 
justly characterize the nature of the progress of the 
Gospel. Not compelling proselytes by force of arms, 
as the religion of Mohammed afterwards; but so hid- 
den at first, that we are obliged to seek carefully for 
traces of its growth in the history of nations; yet 
maintaining its place, and effecting its purpose; gradu- 
ally meliorating the laws, and changing the moral as- 
pect of the countries where it was received : and in- 
sinuating its renovating views of God and man into 
the hearts of those with whom it came in contact.! 

These were bold predictions, if we refer to the time 
when they were made. Mohammed indeed extended 
his projects widely. But he had the example of Chris- 
tianity before him, and took it as his pattern. With 

* Matt. xiii. 31. f Ibid. 33. 

% See this parable beautifully illustrated by Benson, in his Hu!= 

sean Lectures, Disc. XL V. i. 



WITH SUBSEQUENT EXPERIENCE. 



131 



that example, he would have belied his own preten- 
sions, if he had shown a more circumscribed ambition. 

So, however, would Jesus, it may be thought, or 
those who set up his standard. Be it so. I shall not 
lay stress upon any prophecies which admit of a gene- 
ral application. But many parts of the Christian Scrip- 
tures, especially the parables, describe the different 
sort of reception which the religion should meet with, 
and the different effects it should produce on different 
characters, with an exactness attainable by no one to 
whom the intricate map of the human heart was not 
laid open; laid open, too, as it should appear after a 
lapse of very many intervening centuries. 

The parable of the sower is remarkable on this 
ground. " Behold there went out a sower to sow; 
and it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way 
side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. 
And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much 
earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no 
depth of earth: but when the sun was up, it was 
scorched ; and because it had no root, it withered away. 
And some fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up, 
and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And other 
fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang 
up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and 
some sixty, and some an hundred."* 

The sower who goes out to sow his seed, that seed 
being the word of God, is a just and lively representa- 
tion of the manner in which the Gospel was ori- 



* Mark, iv. 3, kc. 



132 



AGREEMENT 01 CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES 



ginally taught, and is still maintained and disseminated 
throughout the world. The sower resembles Jesus 
and his Apostles, and the Christian teachers, ministers, 
and missionaries which have succeeded them: and if 
any one were now describing the office of these vari- 
ous labourers as it has been exercised since the intro- 
duction of Christianity, the comparison would be no 
less obvious than it is apt and natural. But nothing 
similar had been seen in practice when this parable 
was delivered. The sower had no prototype in the 
commentators of the law, the Scribes or Pharisees : 
nor even in the occasional exhortations and warnings 
of the prophets: still less among the various priests 
and hierophants of heathen superstition. 

The application of the parable is still more original 
and extraordinary. It describes with a sort of graphi- 
cal illustration, the different reception which was to 
be expected for the " Word of God." The Gospel 
claimed this title; and there are four distinct ways, 
and no more, in which a doctrine professing this claim 
may be treated. 

It may be at once rejected. It may be admitted for 
a while into the heart, and be afterwards excluded 
by rival interests. It may be admitted and retained 
there, but exercise no active influence over the con- 
duct; or it may be made the ruling principle of a man's 
sentiments, desires, pursuits, and actions. 

Every modification of faith and of unbelief falls na- 
turally into one of these four classes ; and all these 
classes have existed wherever the Gospel has been ge- 



WITH SUBSEQUENT EXPERIENCE. 



133 



nerally made known. None of them, however, had 
existed at the time when the parable was uttered. The 
Jewish law was so different in its nature, and so dif- 
ferently taught, that it produced none of those marked 
effects which have always attended the promulgation 
of the Gospel. Therefore the parable was at the time 
unintelligible to those who heard it. The characters 
which should hereafter appear, existed only in the 
mind of the author of the religion under which they 
were to spring: as the forms and lineaments of the 
future world are supposed by the philosopher to have 
been present in the mind of its divine Architect, though 
the lapse of time was required to unfold and exhibit 
them. The parable, when first pronounced, was as 
much a prophecy as the declaration which foretold the 
destruction of Jerusalem. 

The manner in which these various characters are 
sketched is peculiarly remarkable. It is an outline of 
few strokes, displaying an intimate acquaintance with 
the features to be described. 

Wherever the Gospel is taught as a divine revela- 
tion, many " hear it, and understand it not." Its de- 
clarations lie on the surface of the mind; but no pains 
are taken to examine the evidence of its authority, 
nor to bring the heart into subjection to its precepts, 
In truth, the heart is never affected : the man remains 
within the hearing but without the feeling of religion. 
Such is the case with seed which falls " by the 
wayside;" on ground unprepared and unfit to re- 
ceive it: where it is trodden under foot by every pas- 



134 AGREEMENT OF CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES 



senger, or carried off by the fowls of the air: destroy* 
ed by the scorner, or scattered by the tempter. 

Others, instead of neglecting the Gospel altogether, 
are struck with some sense of its beauty : with the 
high views of mankind and their future desti- 
ny, which it unfolds; or the ennobling relation to 
God, which it offers; or the suitableness of its doc- 
trines to the condition of the human race. So when 
they " hear the word, they receive it with joy ;" listen 
to it gladly; and if there were no trials to come, no 
self-denial to be exercised, no duties to be performed, 
they would be something more than almost Christians. 
So corn might nourish on a rock, if there were no sun 
to parch it, or no storms to wash it away : it springs up 
for a time, though afterwards it withers. Such is the 
religious impression described in the figure. When 
difficulties arise, it is obliterated. The corrupt pro- 
pensities of the heart prevail: or opposition ensues; 
if not such as menaced the early followers of Jesus, 
the never-failing opposition of the indifference, con- 
tempt, and irreligious example of other men; and un- 
der these trials religion gives way, if it has not been 
deeply rooted in the heart. " He that received the 
seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the 
word, and anon with joy receiveth it: yet he hath not 
root in himself, but dureth for a while; for when tri- 
bulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, 
by and by he is offended."* 

There is also a numerous class who persevere through 

* Matt. xiii. 21. 



WITH SUBSEQUENT EXPERIENCE. 135 

life with no doubt upon their minds of the truth of 
Christianity : they pay some attention to its ordinances, 
and imagine, perhaps, that in the main they are living 
obediently to its precepts. And so they do live, in 
all those cases where the world and the Scripture 
agree: in all the ordinary rules of life which keep so- 
ciety together, and secure the peace of the community. 
But the heart is still untouched, or, at best, unsubdued :. 
it is fixed on worldly advantages, worldly preferment, 
worldly pleasures, worldly approbation; and these 
snares so entangle it, that all those rarer and peculiar 
graces which the gospel requires, all that undivided 
attachment to its Author which it claims, all that un- 
compromising fidelity which constitutes and distin- 
guishes the true Christian, is still wanting. Such is 
he who u receives seed among thorns; and the cares 
of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke 
the word, and he becometh unfruitful." He is not 
like those who never have paid any attention to the 
word : nor like those who, having been drawn to listen 
to it, have afterwards avowedly discarded it, as requir- 
ing too great a sacrifice. He remains to the end a 
plant upon Christian ground : has leaves and blossoms : 
a show perhaps of fruit, but it reaches no perfection: 
it is not Christian fruit, such as belongs peculiarly to 
the Gospel, being estimated by its standard, and sup- 
ported by its motives. 

So likewise there is a fourth class, upon whom the 
word is not lost or destroyed without taking root; 
neither is it overborne by the opposition which it must 



136 AGREEMENT OF CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES 

encounter; neither is it choked among the concerns, 
and interests, and pleasures of the present state; but 
it grows among unfriendly plants, and flourishes in 
spite of an ungenial climate ; and is distinguished by 
the fruits of humility, piety, holiness, and charity, in 
which it abounds. Yet among these who alike " re- 
ceive, and understand, and keep the word," there is 
not an uniform proficiency. All do not in an equal 
degree obtain the mastery over their natural corrup- 
tions. All do not arrive at an equal height in Chris- 
tian virtues. All do not labour equally in the service 
of their Master, to whom they have attached them- 
selves. All produce fruit; but "some thirty fold, 
some sixty, and some an hundred." 

Such is the actual state of the Christian world. And 
such is the description which was drawn of it before 
Christianity was in existence. The description agrees 
with the experience of every minister who has observ- 
ed the workings of human nature under the operation 
of the Gospel. He can distinguish characters like 
these among every hundred persons that may be under 
his charge ; he can perceive none who do not fall na- 
turally and easily within some one of these classes. 
And this I must consider strong evidence of divine 
authority in him who delivered such a parable : a pa- 
rable which comprehensively describes the whole of 
mankind, in a country where the Gospel is preached ; 
so as to mark out by a masterly touch the different 
shades and variations of character, which should be 
hereafter produced by a cause not then in operation. 



1 




WITH SUBSEQUENT EXPERIENCE. 137 

That this foreknowledge of character should have been 
found in men who were no more than Jesus and his 
followers appeared to be, is as difficult to believe, as 
that one uneducated in anatomy should be able to de- 
lineate the internal conformation of the human body. 

IV. It must be observed, farther, that the parable 
just considered by no means stands alone, an excep- 
tion to the general tenor of the discourses of Jesus: it 
cannot be alleged as a single fortunate hit among many 
failures. The truth which it conveys is intimated by 
several other parables, likewise of a prophetic, nature; 
among which that of the tares springing up among 
the wheat, and of the net cast into the sea* deserve 
particular attention. Like the former, they commu- 
nicate information which an - impostor would be un- 
willing to furnish, which an enthusiast would refuse 
to anticipate, but which has been found agreeable to 
experience in every age of the Gospel. They pre- 
dict, that even in the countries where Christianity is 
received and generally professed, there shall be a 
great variance between its precepts and the characters 
of many who come within its pale. They warrant us 
to expect that many will contradict by their lives the 
faith which they express in their creed, and fall short 
of the character which the Gospel prescribes and re- 
quires. 

That such is the case none will deny. The great 
majority of the people, in a Christian country, believe 



* Matt. xiii. 24—43. 47—50. 
M 2 



138 AGREEMENT OF CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES 



in the incarnation of Jesus as an historical fact, with- 
out being in any characteristic degree influenced by 
his religion. I do not only mean that they are deno- 
minated Christians from their geographical position, 
or the baptism of their infancy; but that, if question- 
ed upon the point, they would profess themselves 
Christians; would be offended if their faith were 
doubted; would desire to be comprehended in all the 
benefits of Christianity, and resent it, if their title to 
thern were denied. And yet, if their lives were ex- 
amined, and their sentiments tried according to the 
rules and spirit of Christianity, they would be found 
altogether defective. The Gospel says, " blessed are 
the poor in spirit. " But how generally does even the 
Christian world condemn the moderation, the unam- 
bitious temper, the humility, the self-abasement, which 
belong to the H poor in spirit," as contemptible ! The 
Gospel sa} 7 s, "blessed are the meek;" but the world 
banishes from its society the man who practises this- 
meekness, by patiently bearing an affront, and scru- 
pling to resent an injury. The Gospel says, " blessed 
are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness." 
But how little does it appear from the studies, the 
pursuits, the pleasures, or the conversation of a Chris- 
tian community, that righteousness is the leading ob- 
ject of desire? how generally, I might justly add, Is 
such a desire despised ? The Gospel says, " blessed 
are the pure in heart." Yet how lamentably common, 
and how little censured by public opinion, is impurity 
of discourse, of thought, of practice ! I instance in 



WITH SUBSEQUENT EXPERIENCE. 



1391 



these points of conduct, because they are open and 
tangible, and capable of no mistake or denial. But if 
it were necessary to push the inquiry further, the 
same inconsistency and deficiency would appear with 
respect to the doctrines of Christianity. The faith of 
most men is as much at variance with the religion 
which they profess, as their practice. 

No doubt, this discrepancy between the general 
habits and sentiments of those who profess Chris- 
tianity, and the precepts of their religion, is an asto- 
nishing fact; and one with regard to which we require 
all the light of Scripture to explain the results of our 
experience, and all the results of our experience ta 
confirm the predictions of Scripture. An argument 
has been raised against the religion itself, that so much 
should have been undertaken, and yet so much still 
unaccomplished. And certainly before the experiment 
had been tried, that which has proved the actual re- 
sult would hardly have been foreseen. We should 
have anticipated,, perhaps, that many should avow 
themselves completely independent of any Revelation. 
But should we have expected that numbers, who con- 
fess its authority, and believe its divine obligation, 
should despise its sanctions, and neglect its demands, 
and disregard its instructions? 

These parables, however, assure us, that in all this 
inconsistency between profession and practice, be- 
tween precept and obedience, there is nothing more 
than was foreseen : foreseen as about to result from the 
arts of the spiritual enemy of mankind, acting upon 



140 AGREEMENT OF CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES 

human corruption. The dispensation of the Gospel., 
we are told, or the religion of Jesus, is like a field 
sown with corn: among which weeds spring up and 
grow together with the corn : or like a tahle furnished 
with guests of every kind, both bad and good : or like 
a net which is cast into the sea, and gathers of every 
kind. This plainly intimates, that among those who, 
in a country where Christianity is established, profess 
and call themselves Christians, all shall not be of that 
kind whicb the Gospel acknowledges and is intended 
to produce. There shall be persons of every kind. It 
is no more supposed that all shall live up to the Gos- 
pel, or make it their rule of opinion, and standard of 
duty, than it is supposed by the husbandman that no 
weeds shall appear among his corn ; or by one who 
casts his net into the sea and gathers all within his 
reach, that all he takes shall be worth preserving. 

And this entirely agrees with what has been actu- 
ally observed in every country where Christianity has 
been the national religion. It gathers of every kind : 
it contains a mixture of wheat and tares, winch both 
grow up together until the harvest, till the final dis- 
tinction is made between the barren professors of 
Christianity, and those who are fitted for the mansions 
of the heavenly husbandman. 

These aberrations from the spirit of the Gospel, 
where they exist, will be open and evident. Others 
may be more easily concealed from human observa- 
tion. Provision is made against these also. The pa- 
rable of the guest who appeared at the feast "not 



WITH SUBSEQUENT EXPERIENCE. 



141 



having a wedding garment,"* is intended to reach the 
case of one who, to outward appearance, is sound in 
the Christian faith. For he accepts the invitation, 
which others refuse; and he takes his place among the 
guests. But he had neglected that holiness which is 
essential to the true Christian. The practical Anti- 
nomian is perhaps a rare character; yet, doubtless, it 
exists; and ecclesiastical history acquaints us that some 
have been found in almost every age, who have sys- 
tematically defended this inconsistent heresy. So 
there are many moral disorders incompatible with the 
Gospel, as pride, hypocrisy, unsanctifled temper, un- 
eharitableness, covetousness, which may remain in a 
srreat measure undiscovered to the end. We cannot 
but admire the prophetic correction which such vices 
receive in this parable. With the same tendency as 
those before considered, it proceeds further; and shows 
its Author's foreknowledge of a truth ,^ which we are 
reluctantly obliged to own is possible, that a man may 
deceive all by whom he is surrounded, and find his 
error only discovered at last to the Searcher of hearts. 

V. But insight into the human heart is not the only T 
excellence of these parables. It was an original mode 
of conveying instruction : for the few parables which 
previously existed admit of no comparison with the 
copiousness, variety, and force of those attributed to 
Jesus. It was a mode of conveying instruction pecu- 
liarly suitable to the object proposed. Allegories, it 
is generally acknowledged, strike the mind more- 

* Matt. xxii. 11—14. 



142 AGREEMENT OF CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES 



forcibly, and are more subtle and delicate in their 
operation than direct precepts. And these have every 
property which can fit them for the purpose which 
they were intended to serve. They are obvious and 
familiar, otherwise their moral would have been inac- 
cessible to the understanding of those who must al- 
ways of necessity form the most numerous class of 
hearers. Yet have they nothing that is low or mean, 
or unworthy of the source from which they profess 
to be derived. They can neither be uninteresting to 
the most learned reader, nor offend the most fastidious. 
Experience has proved the wisdom w^hich dictated 
them. They have been commented upon during as 
many ages as Christianity has existed. Yet, from the 
abundance of illustration which they admit, every 
succeeding commentator finds in them the basis of 
some new argument, by which he may enforce the 
examination of the heart, and prepare it for the influ- 
ence of religion. Can it be supposed that all these 
excellencies, directed to the same object and promoting 
the same end, could have resulted from an unautho- 
rized imposture ? 

Impostors, moreover, must have been aware of the 
embarrassment necessarily arising from writings con- 
taining so much variety. Discourses, asserting gene- 
rally the immortality of the soul or a future judgment, 
or conveying moral rules and religious exhortations, 
might have been framed with comparatively little ha- 
zard of detection or contradiction. But the Gospels, 
in the mixture of narrative, dialogue, and parabolic 



WITH SUBSEQUENT EXPERIENCE. 



143 



language which they contain, betray an adventurous 
spirit, a boldness of enterprise, which must certainly 
have led impostors to their own refutation. Yet these 
writings have been vigilantly scrutinized and closely 
examined, both by friends and enemies, during 
eighteen centuries; and the experience of eighteen 
centuries has confirmed their authority, by bringing 
to light continually successive proofs of the knowledge 
of human nature which they display, and the influence 
over it which they pre-eminently exercise, under all 
circumstances of time and climate, and all varieties of 
character and education. 



-144 



ON THE WISDOM MANIFESTED 



CHAPTER VII. 

On the Wisdom manifested in the Christian Scrip- 
tures. 

In the preceding chapter I have pointed to some 
proofs which seem to indicate more than human fore- 
knowledge in the authors of the Christian Scriptures. 
But the proof of wisdom may be negative as well as 
positive. And it seems incredible that such writers 
as those of the New Testament must have been, if 
their works were the coinage of their own minds, 
should not have committed themselves by absurdities, 
and betrayed their, cause by contradictions. This has 
has been done by all others who have ventured to set 
out on similar pretensions. But the" Gospels have 
risen in esteem, in proportion as they have been 
longer the subject of examination, meditation, and 
commentary. Learning has not found them too sim- 
ple, nor simplicity too learned. Those who have 
studied them longest, still derive fresh interest from 
the perusal. The critical and historical investigations 
of the last two centuries, in the only countries of the 
world which are capable of such researches, have left 
no subject unfathomed ; philosophy has been busily 
employed: inquiry has been free, unlimited, and bold; 



IN* the christian scriptures. 



145 



yet the work of men confessedly unlearned has not 
shrunk from philosophical scrutiny ; and a composition 
which must be a composition of falsehood, if it is not 
of divine authority, has stood the severest test of cri- 
tical investigation.* 

A remarkable effect has resulted from this, even 
with regard to those who do not receive the Gospel as 
the guide of their own faith and principles. They ad- 
mi rotund praise it. Its assailants are no longer found 
among those who are respectable for learning or intel- 
lect. They are chiefly persons too ignorant to under- 
stand the strongest proofs on which it rests, and cer- 
tainly addressing their arguments to those who have 
none of the skill or knowledge which might be able 
to appreciate them. 

Yet the New Testament is concerned with subjects, 
which, if its authors had been destitute of guidance, 
would have been likely to betray them into inconsis- 
tencies. Human liberty, and divine prescience; the 
beings of another world; the rewards and punish- 

* It is a fine remark of Dr. Hey, Lectures, B. 1. c. xiii. s. xi'ri : 
" We say the Gospel narratives must be real, because no one could 
invent such incidents, manners, sentiments, and expressions, as we 
find in them. The Evangelists at least were not improved enough 
to do it, in morality, or in philology. If this be a real argument, 
it is one, -which will appear the more clearly, the more we improve in 
these particulars." — "If as men improve, the Gospels continue to 
seem to contain good morality, the evidence of their excellence 
must be acknowledged to increase, because every improvement in 
the judges of this matter, must put the writings judged to a new 
trial." 

N 



146 



ON THE WISDOM MANIFESTED 



ments of a future state; these are subjects of such 
depth and height, and at the same, so seductive to the 
imagination, that faculties apparently most competent 
to such a task, most prepared for it by nature and 
education, have failed in their attempt to reach them. 

We have no right to expect in the Christian writers 
a degree of discretion and good sense which is not 
found in Socrates or Plato. But how full of absurdity 
are the descriptions which these latter gave of dfe fu- 
ture state of the soul, the moment they ventured to 
depart from generalities.* 

Many of the apocryphal writings afford a similar 
test. Independently of the external testimony which 
excludes them from the canon, we at once reject them 
as unsatisfactory. Why ? but because our standard is 
formed upon the authentic books of Scripture, and that 
standard is approved by our reason to be far superior 
to the pretenders which rival it. Yet why should 
this be, if all are to be referred to the same origin? 

Jesus Christ, as we cannot but observe, never un- 
dertakes to describe the nature of that future reward 

* In the Phaedo, different places are assigned to different souls, 
according 1 to their respective pursuits on earth. Those of philoso- 
phers soar to the dwellings of the gods : those of men who have 
been devoted to the concerns of the body, being' too gross and< 
heavy to mount upward, are pressed down towards their native 
earth, Tregiru, ftvi^stjet re y,tti rag t&^x$ jcfAtv^uevctr and at last 
are destined to animate inferior creatures, according to their pecu- 
liar bent : the sensual, becoming asses ; the rapacious, wolves; the 
husy fwpMTikoiX ant?, wasps, or bees, — Ph. S. 80, &c. ^ 1 



IK THE CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES. 



147 



which he promised to his disciples. He speaks of it 
generally, under the terms of everlasting life, or glory, 
or paradise; but he attempts no luxuriant, or even 
particular description. On one occasion, where an in- 
clination to lead him further was manifested; he 
merely replies, in forcible, though sober language, 
that, " they who are counted worthy to attain that 
world, and the resurrection from the dead, shall nei- 
ther marry, nor be given in marriage, but be as the 
angels of God in heaven."* 

His apostles follow this example, and maintain a 
similar reserve ; speaking of a heavenly inheritance, 
of a crown of glory, of life and immortality; but dis- 
creetly affirming, in words with which the Jews were 
acquainted, that " eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, 
neither have entered into the heart of man to con- 
ceive, the things which God hath prepared for them 
that love him."t 

St. Paul even speaks of glorious visions revealed to 
him, and of a glimpse which he was permitted to en- 
joy of the heavenly world. He had here entered 
upon a field, in which an enthusiast would have de- 
lighted to expatiate. Yet all we are told is, that he 
heard "things which it is not lawful for man to 
utter.":}: 

All this exactly satisfies our reason. We can per- 
fectly understand, that persons in one state of being 

* Matt. xxii. 30. 

f 1 Cor. ii. 9. from Isaiah, Ixiv. 4 
% 2 Cor. xii. 2—4. 




148 ON THE WISDOM MANIFESTED 

can never be made to comprehend with any clearness 
the circumstances of another and a very different state 
of being; and that any attempt to describe them must 
inevitably fail;* 

Compare, however, this reserve with the conduct 
of Mohammed, when he professes to draw out a mi- 
nute description of the rewards to be expected by 
" the faithful." 

" Therein are rivers of incorruptible Water, and 
rivers of milk; the taste whereof cloyeth not; and 
rivers of wine, pleasant unto those that drink; and 
rivers of clarified honey; and therein shall they have 
plenty of clarified honey, and pardon from the Lord."f 

" These are they who shall approach near unto God. 
They shall dwell in gardens of delight. Youths which 
shall continue in their bloom for ever, shall go round 
about to attend them, with goblets and beakers, and a 
cup Of flowing wine: their heads shall not ache by 
drinking the same, neither shall their reason be dis- 
turbed ; and with fruits of the roots which they shall 
choose, and the flesh of birds of the kind which they 
shall desire. And there shall accompany them fair 
damsels, having large black eyes, resembling pearls 
hidden in their shells, as a reward for that which they 
have wrought.":}: 

* The difference between the inspired and uninspired writer is 
evident from the puerility of Irenaeus, 1. 5. ch. S3, where he falls 
into the very error here alluded to. 

•J- Koran, ch. xlvii. 

$ Koran, ch. lvi. p. 434. Sale's edit. 



IN THE CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES. 149 



" Verily the righteous shall dwell among delights ; 
seated on cushions, they shall behold objects of plea- 
sure; thou shalt see in their faces the brightness of 
joy. They shall be given to drink of pure wine, seal- 
ed; the seal whereof shall be musk; and to this let 
those aspire, who aspire to happiness ; and the water 
mixed therewith shall be of Tasnim,* a fountain 
whereof those shall drink who approach near unto the 
divine presence. They who act wickedly laugh the 
true believers to scorn ; wherefore, one day the true 
believers, in their turn, shall laugh the infidels to 
scorn; lying on couches they shall look down upon 
them in hell."t 

* The name of a fountain in paradise, so called from its being 
conveyed to the highest apartments. 

f Chap, lxxxiii. Sale, in his Preliminary Discourse, affirms, that 
Mohammed took the greatest part of his paradise from Jewish 
traditions; with some assistance from the Persian Magi. As far as 
this is correct, it proves, in a remarkable degree, the difference 
between human and divine authority. A Jew, surrounded by 
these traditions, rejects them all. Sale is struck by the distinction. 
" Our Saviour (he says) speaks of the future state of the blessed 
as of a kingdom, where they shall eat and drink at his table, Luke 
xxii. 29. But then these descriptions have none of those puerile 
imaginations which reign throughout that of Mohammed, much 
less any the most distant intimation of sensual delights which he 
was so fond of ; on the contrary, we are expressly assured, that in 
the resurrection they will neither marry nor be given in mar- 
riage, but will be as the angels of God in heaven. Mohammed, 
however, to enhance the value of paradise with his Arabians, chose 
rather to imitate the indecency of the Magians, than the modesty 
of the Christians, in this particular." — Sale's Prelim. Disc. p. 101. 
N 2 



150 



ON THE WISDOM MANIFESTED 



It is not extraordinary that we should find these ab- 
surdities in a human composition. It would be more 
extraordinary if we did not 5 but it remains to be ex- 
plained, why the discourses of Jesus exhibit no simi- 
lar traces of a mind bewildering itself among things of 
which it had no experience, and representing as hea- 
venly truths the dreams of an earthly imagination. 

With regard to the punishments of another world, 
we find the same discreet reserve in the Christian 
Scriptures. The most awful retribution is declared; 
and the fears of unbelieving man are excited by allu- 
sions to all those miseries which we here most shud- 
der at ; but hell is not described. We are told of " the 
fire that never shall be quenched ; where their worm 
dieth not, and the fire is not quenched ;" " of outer 
darkness, where shall be weeping and gnashing of 
teeth;" of " the everlasting fire prepared for the devil 
and his angels;"* of "the lake which burneth with 
fire and brimstone, whence the smoke of their torment 
ascendeth up forever and ever, and they have no rest 
day nor night. "t But the subject is left in these ob- 
scure generalities; and the apostles, instead of enlarg- 
ing, as a natural temptation might have led them to 
do, upon the texts thus left them by their master, con- 
fine themselves to the most modest and prudent state- 
ments upon this tremendous theme. They denounce, 

See Koran, ch. lv. ; to quote which would greatly corroborate my 
argument, if I were not unwilling to disgust the reader. 

* Mark;, ix. 44. Matt. viii. 12. Matt. xxv. 41. 

f Rev. xiv. 11. 



IN THE CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES, 



151 



as was their commission, the " terrors of the Lord/ 5 
" indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon 
every soul of man that doeth evil ;" but they wrap 
up these terrors and this anguish in the general ex- 
pressions of " the blackness of darkness forever," and 
"everlasting destruction from the presence of the 
Lord," and the forfeiture of the heavenly inheritance. 
In short, instead of yielding to imagination, and giv- 
ing way to the allurement of ambitious descriptions 
either of future punishment, or future reward, they 
rather surprise us by their reserve. 

Not so Mohammed. He has, "in his Koran and 
traditions, been very exact in describing the various 
torments of hell; which, according to him, the wicked 
will suffer both from intense heat and excessive cold."* 

" Unto those who treasure up gold and silver, and 
employ it not for the advancement of God's true re- 
ligion, denounce a grievous punishment. On the day 
of judgment their treasures shall be intensely heated 
in the fire of hell, and their foreheads, and their sides, 
and their backs shall be stigmatized therewith ; and 
their tormentors shall say, this is what ye have trea- 
sured up for your souls; taste, therefore, that which 
ye have treasured up."t 

" Those who believe not, shall have garments of 
fire fitted to them; boiling water shall be poured on 
Iheir heads; their bowels shall be dissolved thereby., 
and also their skins; and they shall be beaten with 

* Sale's Prelim. Disc. 92. 
t Koran, ch. is, p. 153, 



152 



ON THE WISDOM MANIFESTED 



maces of iron. So often as they shall endeavour to 
get out of hell, because of the anguish of their tor- 
ments, they shall be dragged back into the same; and 
their tormentors shall say unto them, Taste ye the 
pain of burning."* " Woe be, on that day, unto 
those who accused the prophets of imposture ! It shall 
be said unto them, Go ye into the punishment which 
ye denied as a falsehood: go ye into the shadow of 
the smoke of hell, which shall arise in three columns, 
and shall not shade you from the heat, neither shall it 
be of service against the flame; but it shall cast forth 
sparks as big as towers, resembling yellow camels in 
oolour."t 

This is a specimen, and only a short specimen, com- 
pared with the numerous passages to the same effect, 
which occur in the Koran, of the manner in which the 
imagination is likely to wanton and riot, when it en- 
ters upon the mysterious field of future reward and 
punishment. The Christian writers themselves of the 
second and third century often afford us a similar ex- 
ample, and appal us by the minuteness with which 
they delineate the undescribable transactions of the 

* Koran, ch. xxii. p. 276. 

f Koran, ch. lxxviii. p. 478. I have made these quotations the 
more freely, because I believe few persons, comparatively, know 
what the Koran really contains. They understand that it is a suc- 
cessful imposture, which has covered a wider surface than even 
Christianity ; and this operates to injure Christianity, by familiariz- 
ing us to an idea of successful imposture. But if the original re- 
cords were consulted, if Mohammed were read instead of Gibbon, 
the imposture would become a powerful auxiliary to the truth. 



IN THE CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES. 



153 



day of judgment, and its astonishing consequences.* 
Scripture alone is temperate; — intelligible, as far as 
its religious effects require that the subject should be 
explained: yet neither alluring the fancy by luxuriant 
images, nor disgusting it by terrific descriptions. Yet 
apart from his divinity, I see no reason why Jesus 
and his followers should have differed from those 
whose inferiority to him every reader must acknow- 
ledge. The subject is a favourite with the vulgar; 
and he addressed his instructions to the poor. The 
Eastern writers delight in allegory, and figures, and 
highly coloured representations. And he was an ori- 
ental teacher. Even Mohammed's descriptions are, 
in many instances, traced to Jewish origin : and Jesus 
was brought up in the midst of those ideas and fables 
which the Jews had engrafted upon their authentic 
Scriptures. So that if we persist in supposing that 
all set out under the same circumstances, no rational 
account can be given why he should be free from the 
errors which we immediately oleteet in others.! 

* See, in particular, Tertull. de Spectaculis, c. 30. Lactant. 
Instit. vii. 21. 

f Dr. Hey has made a similar observation respecting the cha- 
racter and the miracles of Jesus. He speaks of the danger of de- 
tection when any one undertakes to draw a character of a superior; 
and the greater the superiority, the greater the difficulty. "The 
absurdities," he adds, " into which a fictitious narrative would run, 
would be greater still, if the character feigned was something more 
than human: here the author's taste for prodigies would display 
itself: his deity would be sure to do nothing that a mere man could 
do, nothing that would be dictated by plain common sense." With 



• 



154 ON THE WISDOM MANIFESTED 

2. Another subject of great delicacy and difficulty 
which meets us at the entrance of religion, is the de- 
gree of human liberty, and its compatibility with 
divine foreknowledge and government. Our reason 
tells us that w r e must be free, "else how shall God 
judge the w r orld ?" Yet our reason assures us likewise, 
that the governor of the world could not maintain his 
supremacy, if the agency of man were subject to no 
restraint, or bounded by no limits. Again, we are 
conscious of freedom, conscious that we do of our own 
voluntary determination choose or refuse the evil or 
the good; while, at the same time, our experience 
convinces us of the necessity of some preventing, co- 
operating, and assisting influence, both to convert the. 
soul and to keep it within the course prescribed. 

These conflicting principles have embarrassed, in 
all ages, both those who studied natural religion, and 
those who believed revelation. The wisest of these 
have been satisfied with concluding, that there is some 
mode in which the prescience and sovereignty of God 
can be reconciled with human liberty, though we may 

respect to miracles, he observes: "It seems undeniable, that if the 
Evangelists had invented the account of the miracles they related, 
those miracles would have been as idle and foolish as those related 
by some of the ancient fathers : for the fathers had many of them 
much better education than the Evangelists. Inventing" miracles 
is treading on dangerous ground; I know no one, who would not 
in such an attempt, even with the greatest improvements the world 
has ever had, run into absurd pomp and ostentation, something 
remote from human nature and common sense."— Lectures, B. I, 
ch. xiii, sect, s. 




IN THE CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES. 



155 



be unable to perceive and trace it. This, I think, is 
the ground on which those reasoners, who are best 
capable of discoursing on such a subject, commonly 
take their stand ; for, although we find many who 
profess Calvinism, or call themselves predestinarians, 
they are but few who actually and deliberately main- 
tain, with Edwards, on the one hand, that election is 
absolute and grace irresistible, or, on the other, that 
Unbelief is morally necessary to any man. 

I would not wish to assume a disputed point, when 
I proceed to allege that the Christian Scriptures coin- 
cide with this moderate and reasonable conclusion, 
But surely we are warranted in deducing this result 
from the acknowledged fact, that both the advocates 
for necessity, and the advocates for human liberty 
appeal to these Christian Scriptures for support to their 
opposite opinions. Now this is exactly what might 
be looked for, if our understanding and experience 
have really conducted us to the right conclusion: that 
if, ; ' ' jd does exert an influence over the human 
heart, a id yet such influence is not inconsistent with 
mintan liberty. In that case, we should find certain 
passages addressing mankind, as if they were solely 
concerned in determining their own character : we 
should find other passages implying, that the prepara- 
tion and direction of the heart is from above. Why 
neeti the exact degree be defined in which divine in- 
fluence or human nature operates? Probably it would 
not be possible to explain it; certainly it would not be 
necessary. The purpose would be best answered by 



156 



ON THE WISDOM MANIFESTED 



leaving it indefinite. Man knows enough to make him 
humble, if he knows that of himself he can do nothing; 
and enough to make him diligent, if he is admonished 
to " watch," and " keep himself," and " work out his 
salvation." 

Mohammed, on the contrary, has split upon this 
rock also. " The sixth great point of fate, which the 
Mohammedans are taught by the Koran to believe, is 
God's absolute decree and predestination, both of good 
and evil. For the orthodox doctrine is, that whatever 
hath or shall come to pass in this world, whether it be 
good or whether it be bad, proceedeth entirely from 
the divine will, and is irrevocably fixed and recorded 
from all eternity in the preserved table: God having 
secretly predetermined not only the adverse and pros- 
perous fortune of every person in this world in the 
most minute particulars, but also his faith or infidelity; 
his obedience or disobedience, and consequently his 
everlasting happiness after death: which fate or pre- 
destination it is not possible by any foresight or wis- 
dom, to avoid."* 

This affords a remarkable contrast to the moderation 
and reserve of the Christian writings on this intricate 
subject. While Jesus gives us clearly to understand 
that faith in himself as Saviour of the world, and the 
life resulting from it, depend upon heavenly influence; 
he never allows us to suppose that this influence is 
arbitrarily bestowed : he distinctly affirms, that it is 



* Sale's Prelim. Discourse, p. 101. 



IN THE CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES. 



157 



refused to none ; that none are excluded from it ; that 
every one who asks receives, and every one who seeks 
shall find. 

How different is this from the language of the Ko- 
ran : " As for unbelievers, it will be equal to them 
whether thou admonish them or do not admonish 
them ; they will not believe ; God has sealed up their 
hearts and their hearing; a dimness covereth their 
sight, and they shallsuffer a grievous punishment."* 
Compare this with the command given to the apostles, 
"Go ye into all the World, and preach the Gospel to 
every creature;" or with the invitation which they 
were empowered to issue, " Come unto me, all ye 
that travel and are heavy laden, and I will give you 
rest f and then decide, which carries internal evidence 
of its origin. Conceive, for a moment, the difference 
it would create in our feelings, and our sentiments, if 
such a sentence as this had fallen from the lips of Jesus: 
"the fate of every man is bound about his neck."t 
And yet why should it not have escaped him ? if he 
had been a mere adventurer in religion, why should 
he not have been bewildered in the labyrinth in which 
so many have most unprofitably strayed? 

3. Another mark of superiority in the Christian 
Scriptures, is the confidence with which Jesus affirms 
the facts which he undertook to reveal, such as the re- 

* Chap. ii. p. 2. 

f Koran, ch. xvii. p. 229. "Like a collar which he cannot by any 
means get off"." — Sale in loco. 



158 



ON THE WISDOM MANIFESTED 



surrection, an eternal state, the way of salvation, the 
divine counsels; without labouring to prove them. 
Mohammed is constantly employed in argument and 
discussion : of which I do not recollect a single in- 
stance in the Gospels, except for the purpose of con- 
vincing the Jews out of their own Scriptures: which 
is very different from a formal endeavour to prove 
the possibility of a fact, or the reasonableness of a 
doctrine. St. Paul was concerned with some oppo- 
nents, who denied the resurrection of the body; and 
he takes pains to confute them by an argument from 
analogy. Mohammed also is not contented with 
merely asserting the resurrection : he uses the same 
argument as St. Paul, and adds another to show, what 
is very true, that the second birth is no greater mira- 
cle than the first. This is all as might be expected, 
that men should argue with men. But Jesus merely 
declares the fact; "the hour is coming, in the which 
all that are in the graves shall hear his voice (the 
voice of the Son of man,) and shall come forth; they 
that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; 
and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of 
damnation/'* And so with respect to whatever he 
affirms. 

When we consider the original and unexpected doc- 
trines which Jesus introduced; the novel idea of his 
sacrifice, which nevertheless is capable of so much 
illustration from the Hebrew Scriptures; the clearer 



* John. v. 28. 



IN THE CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES. 



159 



view of the personality and office of the Holy Spirit, 
which also admits of so much confirmation from the 
books of Moses and the prophets; the novelty of some 
of his precepts, which might appear at first sight para- 
doxical or impracticable : it must strike us as singular, 
that he merely delivered his oracular message, and re- 
sisted all temptation to show its justice or its proba- 
bility. He declared, that out of the heart of man pro- 
ceed all the crimes which pollute the world j* but left 
it to- his disciples to explain from whence the heart de- 
rived its depravity. He declared that he was come 
f* to give his life a ransom for many ;"t but left it to his 
disciples to show why this was needful, and how it 
had made a part of the divine counsels from the be- 
ginning. He enjoined his followers not to resist evil, 
and promised that the meek should inherit the earth ; 
but left it for experience to prove that such precepts 
are compatible with the daily concerns and intercourse 
of mankind. We see at once the propriety of this 
conduct, if Jesus were indeed a " teacher come from 
God;":j: but can we believe that one who had assumed 
a title to which he had no just claim would have acted 
with such consistency ? Especially when in that case 

* Matt. xv. 19. f Matt. xx. 28. 

| " We may suppose that one sent from God to reform and in- 
struct the world, will have recourse to some plain and satisfactory 
way of establishing his authority, which must be by working mira- 
cles, or by fulfilling ancient prophecies, or by foretelling future 
events ; and that when he has thus prepared men to obey him and 
trust in him, he will command as a lawgiver, rather than reason as 
a philosopher."— Jortin. Disc, p. 78. 



160 



ON THE WISDOM MANIFESTED 



the only reasonable chance of success must have been 
his proving the excellence of his precepts, and con- 
vincing his countrymen of the truth of his doctrines 
by arguments which they could not but acknowledge. 

4. The foregoing points are of a speculative nature. 
In others, which relate more immediately to practice, 
the superior wisdom of the author of Christianity is 
no less conspicuous. In cases of considerable deli- 
cacy, he manifests an intimate knowledge of the heart, 
and of the way in which it is affected by religious ex- 
ercises. 

The Mohammedan religion, like other superstitions 
prevailing in the East, is rigorous in prescribing pray- 
ers, fasts, and specific acts of mortification. Moham- 
med required his followers to offer five prayers in the 
twenty-four hours, at certain stated times. He also 
prescribed with minute exactness the fasts which they 
should observe. Alms he treated as a religious tax : 
a certain per centage being levied on each man's pro- 
perty, and this differing according to the nature of the 
possession. "For, of what is gotten out of the mines, 
or the sea, or by any art or profession, over and above 
what is sufficient for the reasonable support of a man's 
family, and especially where there is a mixture or sus- 
picion of unjust gain, a fifth part ought to be given in 
alms."* 

And this is an error into which a moral legislator 
would be very likely to fall. He has to deal with 



* Sale's Koran. 



IN THE CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES. 161 



fickle and perverse beings, and might consider it wise 
to appoint the specific duty ; to fix the definite degrees 
of austerity ; the requisite proportion of charity ; the 
exact hours of prayer. 

Experience, however, has proved the wisdom of 
leaving these things more free and general, as they are 
left by the Christian Scriptures; which prescribe the 
duty, but intrust the mode of its fulfilment to expedi- 
ency and conscience. The way in which the Mo- 
hammedan fasts are appointed leads directly to the 
error which in fact prevails among Mohammedans, 
The abstinence is not practised as a mean towards a 
higher end, but the merit is supposed to lie in the ab- 
stinence itself. The same of charity: the same of 
prayer : which are rather works to be performed, than 
the results of a -liberal and- pious state of mind. And 
this is the danger attending all forms, a danger which 
is increased in proportion as the prescription is exact! 
Many of the Jews, we know, were devoutly attached 
to fasting as a form. Sale observes, that Mohammed 
followed their example, as in other customs, so in this. 
But Jesus condemned them in that very point where 
we perceive that the error lay. In the same manner 
as he commanded that men should set their affections 
on things above, and lay up treasure in heaven, with- 
out determining the exact degree of attention which 
should be paid to the present world and its concerns ; 
in the same manner as he declared charity to be an in- 
dispensable duty, leaving the particular exercise of it 
to the discretion of his followers ; so did he enjoin 



162 



ON THE WISDOM MANIFESTED 



them to keep the body under and bring it into sub- 
jection, while he ordained no precise observances for 
that purpose. The wisdom of this mode of legisla- 
tion we sufficiently learn from the errors of the Mo- 
hammedans, who fast during the month Ramadan with 
painful exactness, but lay no general restraint upon 
their appetites; and who adhere to strict austerity 
while the sun is up, and think that this warrants a 
proportionate indulgence at its setting. We learn it 
also from the subversion of all the essentials of Chris- 
tianity, which the penances, fastings, austerities, and 
meritorious alms of the Romish church effected in the 
days of ignorance, and still continue to produce where 
ignorance continues to prevail; and which, if they had 
been sanctioned instead of discouraged by the Gospel, 
would have afforded no slight argument against its 
divine authority.* 

Here then a further instance presents itself, and 
that in a case of equal nicety and importance, in which 
Jesus displayed that wisdom by anticipation of which 
experience enables us to form a practical estimate, and 
avoided the mistakes into which others have fallen, 

* It is a circumstance which deserves to be remarked, that the 
principal corruptions which have marred the effect of the Gospel, 
have been introduced not only without its sanction, but in spite of 
its express prohibition. The infallibility, supremacy, and temporal 
dominion of the Roman Pontiff are in direct opposition to Matt, 
xxiii. 8. — 10. ; and xx. 25 — 27. Compulsory celibacy, austerities, 
prescribed abstinence, and the worship of saints or angels, are for- 
bidden, in the clearest terms, by St. Paul. See Colos. ii. 16~23 ; 
and 1 Tim. iv. 1— S, 



IN THE CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES. 



163 



who undertook a design like his. And the evidence 
arising out of this has the more value, because there is 
nothing to be brought into the opposite scale. There 
is no alloy to be set against the pure gold. Those who 
have examined the Gospels with the most unfriendly- 
eyes, have sought to no purpose for a blemish. Those 
who have been very far from yielding themselves up 
to the influence of the religion, have been unable to 
withhold their admiration from the solemnity, simpli- 
city, and consistency of the discourses of Jesus. Let 
them but advance one step further, and satisfy them- 
selves on what principle this can possibly be explain- 
ed, if Jesus had no other advantages than would have 
belonged to him as a native of Galilee, educated in 
Judea. 



164 



ORIGINALITY OF 



CHAPTER VIII. 

, Originality of the Christian Character. 

It is the object of the Christian Scriptures, not 
merely to declare certain truths or doctrines, but to 
recommend and form a particular character; to which 
those who taught the religion stood pledged them- 
selves; and which they held forth to the imitation of 
all who might become their disciples, as indispensable 
to their receiving its benefits. 

Now this character is evidently an important test 
of the truth of the religion. Does it agree with the na- 
tural bias of the human mind? If so, we need seek no 
farther for its origin. Was it copied from any pat- 
tern already in existence? If so, it carries no proof of 
divinity. Is it unsuitable to the object which it was 
professedly intended to promote? If so, we have a 
strong argument against its authority. On the other 
hand, if it is such a character as had no existing ori- 
ginal, when it was first proposed in the Gospel; such 
a character as men are naturally inclined to hold in 
low esteem, yet admirably suited to the end for which 
it was designed; then fresh probability will be added 
to the arguments in favour of the religion. 

The Christian character, however, was necessarily 
in many respects original when the Gospel was pro- 



THE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER. 



165 



mulgated, because it has a remarkable connexion with 
the facts declared in the Gospel. It grows, as it were, 
out of them. Deny them, and it has no propriety. 
The whole character is most natural and suitable, al- 
lowing the truth of the religion; but, on any other 
ground, unintelligible. 

Christianity is not proved to be a divine revelation, 
because it inculcates justice, humanity, sobriety; and 
forbids the contrary vices. Sufficient light has exist- 

wherever mankind have attained a moderate de- 
gree of civilization, to recommend, if not to enforce, 
the leading duties of morality, and to show their con- 
nexion with the welfare of society. The personal 
virtues, indeed, have commonly fallen to the ground; 
and perverted reason has been at no loss for argu- 
ments to justify their violation. And it follows of 
course, that when the relation of man to his Creator 
is understood imperfectly, or not at all; the duties 
which spring out of that relation are neglected or un- 
known.* But this was not the case in Jerusalem. 
Both these classes of duty were distinctly laid down 
and inculcated in the Jewish Scriptures. So that what 

* A lamentable, and at the same time an unanswerable proof of 
the state of the heathen world, with regard to God, is collected 
from Cicero. In his book De Ofriciis, which he wrote not only as 
a philosopher, but as a father anxious for the welfare of his son, 
he passes over, in one short sentence, what we justly consider the 
first and leading duty of mankind. Deos placatos pietas efficiet et 
sanctitas. Lib. ii. s. 3. Yet he was in possession of all the light 
ef his own and former ages. 



166 



ORIGINALITY OF 



was absolutely wanting in the world at the Chris- 
tian area, that is to say, what could no where be 
found previously existing in the world, was rather 
such sanctions as should render it worth while for men 
to practise inconvenient duties and cultivate virtues to 
which they are naturally disinclined, than a new code 
of those duties and virtues. 

Supposing, however, that to be revealed which was 
only obscurely hinted in the Jewish law, but which 
Christianity professes to disclose, respecting the c&r 
ruption of man's nature, and the light in which God 
views that corruption, and the remedy which he has 
provided, and the atonement which he has accepted 
for it; we must have expected that new duties should 
depend upon these truths, now for the first time dis- 
covered ; and that a new turn should be given to many 
of those virtues which the best faculties of the best 
men had always seen to be agreeable to reason. 

And so it is. Jesus and his followers require that 
a character should be cultivated, which,, before his re- 
ligion, had no existing prototype; which in some 
points, and particularly as to its motives and princi- 
ples, was original even among the Jews; and which 
was altogether foreign from the habits and feelings of 
other nations. 

I. We may consider, as a first example, the state of 
mind which appears in the epistles of St. Paul. " This 
is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that 
Jesus Christ came into the ivorld to save sinners : of 



THE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER. 



167 



whom I am chief."* "^God forbid that / should 
glory, save in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ 
" I have suffered the loss of all things, that I may win 
Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own 
righteousness, which is of the. law, but that which is 
through the faith of.Christ, the righteousness which is 
of God by faith. "% "After that the kindness and 
love of God our Saviour towards man appeared ; not 
by works of righteousness, which we have done, but 
according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing 
of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 
which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ 
our Saviour; that being justified by his grace, we 
should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal 
life."§ What I observe in this, is not a mere ex- 
pression of humility, or acknowledgment of unwor- 
thiness : but a total renunciation of personal claim, 
an entire reliance upon Jesus as the author of accept- 
ance with God, and consequent salvation. The doc- 
trine which demands this faith and reliance is explain- 
ed elsewhere; when it is asserted that " all havesin- 
ned, and come short of the glory of God:" that " God 
hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his 
Son." But the feeling which is exhibited in the pas- 
sages just cited, in which Paul is laying open, with- 
out reserve, the ground of his own individual hopes, 
is not such as can be created by direct precept: it ori- 



* 1 Tim. i. 15. 
± Phil. iii. 8, 9. 



f Gal. vi. 14. 
§ Titus, iii. 4 — 7. 



168 



ORIGINALITY OF 



gi nates* in facts- which are declared in the Gospel, and 
can only proceed from an admission of those facts as 
true. 

For how much was there in St. Paul, which, ac- 
cording to the usual current of man's sentiments, 
might have satisfied him with relying upon himself 
and his own exertions? What he had given up for the 
sake of Christianity is well known: it includes all 
which men commonly esteem most valuable: — the 
faith in which he had been educated; the fellowship 
of his friends; the good opinion of his countrymen. 
What he had suffered is no less notorious: contempt, 
persecution, imprisonment, chastisement;, and his 
" more abundant labours' 7 placed him at the head of 
all who were engaged in the Christian cause: for there 
was scarcely a country he had not visited, or a city in 
which he had not planted or encouraged a congrega- 
tion of proselytes. Neither does he deny all this; but 
frankly avows that no one had surpassed him in what 
he had done and undergone for the sake of Christiani- 
ty. But with all these services in his favour, he uni- 
formly withdraws all claim of merit; and exemplifies 
his Master's meaning, " Ye, when ye have have done 
all, say, we are unprofitable servants exempli- 
fies the disposition intended by the words, " blessed 
are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of 
heaven." 

Now, independently of this reliance upon Christ, 



* Luke, xvii. 10. 



THE eH£USTIA5l CHARACTER. 



169 



which could not have been before inculcated, the hu- 
mility and renunciation of desert which Paul exhibits, 
was no part of the general state of religious feeling exist- 
ing in his age and country. What that general feeling 
was is sufficiently manifested in the dialogues which 
Jesus is related to have held ; for though I must not 
consider it as granted that those dialogues actually 
took place, yet we may reasonably assume that they 
represent the ordinary opinions of the day. Indeed, 
those opinions are clearly discovered by w T hat Paul 
incidentally mentions as to the change which had taken 
place in his own views. " I might also have confi- 
dence in the flesh;" (in myself; my own advantages 
and performances.) " If any other man thinketh" (as 
others are wont to think) " that he hath whereof he 
may trust in the flesh, I more : circumcised the eighth 
day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an 
Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Phari- 
see; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touch- 
ing the righteousness which is of the law, blameless. 
But what things were gain to me, those I counted 
loss for Christ."* 

From this as well as many other passages of St. 
Paul's writings, we are able to collect what was the 
prevailing confidence among the Jews, and what had 
been his own confidence; and are therefore entitled 
to ask, how came these unknown and unaccredited 
authorities to contradict the national sentiments, and 



* Phil. in. 4— 7. 



170 



ORIGINALITY Of 



heat down the edifice of human " works and desery- 
ings;" the last thing from which men are commonly 
disposed to recede.* 

It may seem an unexpected course of argument, to 
adduce doctrines in proof of facts. But it is neverthe- 
less true, that when the Apostles insist upon this self- 
abasement and humiliation as the groundwork of the 
Christian character, we have strong evidence of their 
being personally convinced that the death of Jesus 
was actually ordained as a ransom for men; a ransom 
required by sin. If they did not really believe this, 
no reason appears why these new teachers should pro- 
mulgate doctrines so unpopular and so difficult: should 
inculcate the strictest possible morality, and yet deny 
to man the gratification of self-complacency: should 
allow them no other satisfaction, either from the faith 
which they professed or the obedience which they 
performed, than that of evidencing their title to the 
benefits which Christ's death had procured. If the 
condition of the world were not such as the Incarna- 
tion of Christ supposes: if there is not that holiness 
in God, and that unworthiness in man, which sets 

* "The sublimest philosophy that ever was, did never drive 
man out of himself for a remedy; did never teach man to deny him- 
self, but to build up his house with the old ruins, to fetch stones - 
and materials out of the wonted quarry. Humiliation, confusion,, 
shame, to be vile in our own eyes, to be nothing 1 within ourselves, 
to be willing to own the vengeance of God, to judge ourselves, to 
justify him that may condemn us, and be witnesses against our- 
selves, are virtues known only in the book of God."— Bishop 
■Reynolds. 



THE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER. 



171 



one at a distance from the other; then there is no 
propriety in a confession of unprofitableness which 
sues for pardon, but dares not claim reward; which 
looks forward to eternal life, not as a recompense 
which is to be earned and deserved, but as a boon 
which is to be bestowed through the merits of the 
Redeemer. Take away the judicial purpose of the 
cross, take away its expiatory effect, and there re- 
mains no basis for humility like the Christian. And 
therefore it is a natural consequence, that those who 
do not receive the doctrine of atonement, do not pre- 
tend to any such humility as the Gospel prescribe?, 
and the Apostles profess. If, on the other hand, hu- 
man sinfulness is so heinous in the sight of the Moral 
Governor of the world, that it required a sacrifice like 
that of Christ, and if every individual is indebted to 
that sacrifice for reconciliation with God, or still re- 
mains unreconciled to him: the humiliation inculcated 
in the Gospel becomes natural, nay, necessary. But 
unless there had been, on the part of the promulgators 

•of the religion, an intimate conviction that Jesus did 
indeed " die for our sins, and rise again for our 

justification" it would neither have occurred to them 
to conceive such an humbling disposition of self-abase- 
ment, nor to require it of all who should embrace the 
religion. 

Indeed, the reliance upon Jesus inculcated by his 
disciples, extends further still. He is represented a s 
the author of salvation in a two-fold sense: not only 
by the atonement which justifies, but by the spiritual 



172 



ORIGINALITY 01 



aid which sanctifies the Christian. They were to look 
to him. as the author and finisher of their faith : his 
spirit was to deliver them from "the dominion of sin, 
which was in their members;" and in order to their 
bearing the fruits of righteousness, they must " abide 
in him and he in them" by an union as close as 
that of a tree with its branches. 

And this principle appears realized and embodied in 
the Christian writings. Paul writes, "I laboured 
more abundantly than they all ; yet not I, but the 
grace of God which ivas with me." " We are not 
sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of our- 
selves ; but our sufficiency is of God."* " Work out 
your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is 
God which worketh in you both to will and to do of 
his good pleasure."^ 

Now the natural impression of Ihe human mind 
seems to be,— -I can do ail things. Nothing is want- 
ing but my own purpose and resolution.* And al- 
though a contrary doctrine is implied in many parts 
of the Jewish Scriptures, the dialogues occurring in 
the Gospel history do not lead us to suppose that any 
doubt of personal power, or desire of spiritual assist- 
ance, was intimately felt. But a very different Ian- 

* 2 Cor. iii. 5. f Phil. ii. 12, 13. 

± As Horace, 1 Ep. xviii. 111. Sed satis est orare Jovem, qui 
• lonat et aufert; Det vitam, det opes. JEqmim mi animum ipse 
parabo. " There is one thing," says Seneca, " in which the wise 
inan excels God : God is wise by the benefit of nature, and not ln> 
his own choice." — Epist. 53. Monstro quod ipse tibi possis dare.— 
J uven. S. x. 



THE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER. 



173 



guage is held where the Christian is describing his 
state of mind. " I can do all things, through Christ 
ivho strengthened me."* What he depends on is, a 
realization of the promise, " My grace is sufficient 
for thee ; for my strength is made perfect in weak- 
ness, "t " He of God is made unto us wisdom, and 
righteousness, and sanctification, andredemption."% 
Language like this, not introduced in elaborate argu- 
ment, but incidentally conveying the feelings of the 
heart, can only be ascribed to personal conviction. 

II. Another original principle arising out of the 
facts declared in the Gospel, appears in the grounds 
by which the apostles enforce benevolence and uni- 
versal charity. They enforce it from the disposition 
w T hich the incarnation of Jesus had evinced; as intro- 
ducing a new train of sentiments, and a corresponding 
course of action, in his disciples. 

Spontaneous and disinterested benevolence is the 
inscription written, as it were, on the face of the in- 
carnation. We know little respecting the happiness 
of the Deity 4 but thus much we seem to know, it 
cannot be capable of addition. Therefore, with the 
sole purpose of communicating some portion of that 
happiness to mankind, God sent his Son, and his Son 
agreed to bear our human nature and all its infirmities 
in his own person. It is impossible that this fact 
should not create a new feeling in the hearts of those 
who believe it. Did the Son of God, with no other 



* Phil. iv. 13. 



f 2 Cor. m 9, 



f 1 Cor, i, 30, 



174 



ORIGINALITY OF 



object than my salvation, consent to forego heavenly 
enjoyments, and to suffer, in no common degree, the 
miseries of this world ? From the moment I believe 
this, a new principle is imparted to me. " If God so 
loved us, we ought also to love one another."* And 
so it has proved from the beginning. The Gospel in- 
troduced a new era. It first bound all who embraced 
it together. " They that believed had all things in 
common ; ?? and " were of one heart and of one soul."t 
And this arose out of the religion itself. Its author 
had laid the foundation of it, by saying, "a new com- 
mandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; 
as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 
By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, 
if ye have love one to another."^ And then they 
w r ent forth, united in this b#nd, to exercise the same 
love towards all their fellow-creatures. St. Paul thus 
explains the motive which actuates him. " The love 
of Christ constraineth us: because we thus judge, 
that if one died for all, then were all*dead; and that 
he died for all, that they ivhich livg should not 
henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which 
died for them."§ And again, urging the disciples to 
prove the sincerity of their love, " Ye know the grace 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, 
yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through 
his poverty might be rich."|| Here the argument for 



* 1 John, iv. 11. f Acts, ii. 44. i John, xiii. 34 

% 2 Cor. v. 14, 15. |j 2 Cor. viii. 9. 



THE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER. 



175 



Christian charity is taken from the disinterested and 
self-denying example of Christ himself, and not from 
the positive commands of his religion. 

The object to which this benevolence was directed 
is no less remarkable. It was the soul rather than the 
body ; the concerns of another world, and not the pre- 
sent. Jesus indeed is represented as having shown by 
his own practice, that while his leading purpose was 
to reclaim the hearts of men, he did not overlook their 
temporal necessities, or reckon the wants and infirmi- 
ties of the body of no importance. And when it fell 
in their way, his .disciples followed the example. But 
the main purpose of their exertions was, to bring man- 
kind to a new state of heart, and a new course of life, 
as preparatory to their future admission into a hea- 
venly kingdom. The interest which is expressed 
upon this object, is such as could only be excited by 
deep conviction. 

" Ye know," says Paul to the elders of the Ephesian 
church, "how I kept back nothing that was profitable 
unto you, but have showed you, and have taught you 
public!}', and from house to house, testifying both to 
the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward 
God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And 
how, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem^ 
not knowing the things that shall befal me there : save 
that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying, 
that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of 
these things move me ; neither count I my life dear 
unto myself so that I might finish my course with 



176 



ORIGINALITY OF 



joy, and the ministry, ivhich I have received of the 
Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the grace of 
God. And now I take you to record this day, that 
/ am pure from the blood of all men. For I have 
not shunned to declare unto you the whole counsel of 
God. Therefore watch, and remember, that for the 
space of three years / ceased not to warn every one 
night and day with tears."* We see at large, in 
this passage, the spirit which constantly breathes 
throughout St. Paul's writings. Sensible of escape 
from imminent danger, he is on]y anxious to rescue 
others. Conscious of great personal blessings, he is 
eager to communicate them as widely as possible. 
u Seeing we have this ministry, as we have received 
mercy, ice faint not."\ " We were willing to have 
imparted to you, not the Gospel of God only, but 
also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us."| 
s( We live, if ye stand fast in the Lord"§ " My 
heart's desire and prayer for Israel is, that they 
might be saved." " I have great heaviness and con- 
tinual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that 
myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, 
my kindred according to the flesh. "|| 

Interest so vivid as this, in a case which had no 
concern with any thing belonging to the present world, 
was altogether new. To go about the world, teaching 
religion, teaching it to all ranks, to the poor as earnestly 



* Acts, xx. 19—31. f 2 Cor. iv. 1. * 1 Thess. ii. 8, 
§ 1 Thess. iii. & « Rom. x. 1. ix. 2, 



THE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER. 



177 



as to the rich, had never entered into the thoughts of 
.lew or Gentile. Whatever instruction had been given 
by heathen philosophers, was given to those who were 
able to remunerate their teachers. To communicate 
the mysteries of religion to the vulgar and illiterate, 
to women and children, would have been reckoned 
most preposterous. All conspired, on principle, to 
keep them in ignorance; and to make the characteristic 
of Christianity more remarkable, that <£ to the poor 
the Gospel was preached. " It arose indeed naturally 
out of the facts of the religion, which declared the in- 
finite value of every soul. And the conduct of the 
apostles was the sure result of an actual conviction of 
what they affirmed, that " God had sent his Son, that 
all that believe in him might not perish." But expe- 
rience shows that nothing short of an actual and per- 
sonal conviction of this — a conviction far beyond a 
mere assent to it as an article of national faith or a 
matter of recorded history, — will lead to the sort of 
anxiety and warm feeling about the state of others, 
which is indicated in the language quoted from St. 
Paul. Such a feeling ought to follow, wherever the 
authority of doctrine is acknowledged. But it does 
not really follow, unless the doctrine is very cordially 
received. 

III. Another constituent of the Christian character 
is equally original, and equally dependent upon the 
facts of the religion. That humility towards God 
which is the basis of Christianity, extends also to the 
dealings and spirit of men towards each other, and 



178 



OR.IGINALITY OF 



leads in an unexampled degree to meekness, patience, 
and forgiveness of personal injuries. Reason indeed 
had convinced a few superior men, that it was more 
magnanimous to forgive than to avenge. But it could 
not afford an adequate motive for the practice of smell 
magnanimity; and in fact it had not been practised. 
Even amongst the Jews, in despite of the contrary 
precepts of their law, the maxims of retaliation pre- 
vailed. "It has been said by them of old time, an 
eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. Thou shalt 
love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy."* To such 
an extent had that propensity to retaliation, which 
above all others seems to be born with man, gained 
the ascendency over the commands of Moses. Jesus 
issued a new injunction : " I say unto you, that ye re- 
sist not evil ; but whosoever shall smite thee on the 
right cheek, turn to him the other also. J^ove your 
enemies ; bless them that curse you ; do good to them 
that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use 
you, and persecute you, that ye may be the children 
of your Father which is in heaven."! And when we 
trace this spirit further to the motives by which it is 
inculcated, we find it springing out of the doctrines 
on which the Gospel is founded. Man is corrupt and 
sinful, and God has shown a signal proof of forbear- 
ance towards him ; therefore men ought to forgive one 
another. This is implied in the prayer, " Forgive us 
eur trespasses, as ice forgive them that trespass 



Matt. v. 38. 43 



f Matt. v. 39. 44. 



THE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER. 



179 



against us:" and positively required in the parable 
of the unforgiving servant, who is thus reproved; "0 
thou wicked servant, / forgave thee all that debt, 
because thou desiredst me ; shouldest not thou also 
have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as 
I had pity on thee .?"* Again, Christ suffered the most 
unmerited injuries with patience: "when he was re- 
viled, he reviled not again ; when he suffered he threat- 
ened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth 
righteously." Therefore his followers ougfct not to 
complain, but "for conscience toward God endure 
grief, suffering wrongfully. For even hereunto were 
ye called ; because Christ also suffered for us, leav- 
ing us an example, that ye should follow his steps."i 
Further, Christ was a living instance of meekness and 
humility and self-devotion: who ''being in the form 
of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God ; 
but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him 
the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of 
men ; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled 
himself, and became obedient unto death, even the 
death of the cross." Therefore, " let this mind be" 
in his disciples, " which was also in Christ Jesus. 
Let nothing be done through strife or vain-glory; but 
in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than 
themselves. Look not every man on his own things, 
but every man also on the things of others."^ 

Such are the principles of Christian meekness and 



Matt, xviii. 32, 33. f 1 Pet. ii. 19-23. f Phil. ii. 3—8. 



ise 



ORIGIN ALII Y OF 



forbearance. And it will be observed, that the princi- 
ples are no less original than the virtues ; and could 
never have been proposed, unless they had been wit- 
nessed in an existing pattern, and confirmed by divine 
authority. For who would have dared to set out on a 
mission like that of the apostles, a mission which ex- 
posed them to every species of ill treatment and indig- 
nity, with no stronger arms of defence than meekness 
and forbearance ! To go, as they went, and induce 
others to go, with their eyes open, yet their hands 
bound, into the midst of enemies ! 

Now what I would insist on is, that all these pecu- 
liar features which distinguish the Christian character, 
are exactly such as we should look for, in the case of 
the truth of the religion. Humility towards God must 
follow the fact of the redemption : philanthropy must 
be excited by the example of the incarnation ; and 
must be directed towards the soul as well as the body ; 
and the passive virtues of meekness and resignation 
grow out of the nature and condition of man revealed 
in the Gospel. This character, therefore, is perfectly 
consistent with the facts which the religion declares ; 
— supposing these facts to be of divine authority, and 
to be received as such, there cannot be less sense of 
personal unworthiness, less concern for the spiritual 
welfare of others, less forbearance and humility than 
the Gospel prescribes, or the language of its followers 
expresses. So important a fact as the incarnation could 
not take place, without introducing new duties and 
new views of duty wherever it was made known. 



THE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER. 



181 



But unless these facts had been divinely revealed ; un- 
less Jesus had not only been a teacher, but " a teacher 
sent from God," unless he had not only died, but died 
as a sacrifice for sin, these qualities of self-abasement, 
and patience, and zeal in the cause of religion, lose 
much of their propriety, as well as their strongest en- 
forcement ; and it becomes in the highest degree im^ 
probable, that the fabricators of a new religion should 
have recommended and prescribed them. 

When, at the present day, I see a person contented 
to abandon his private comforts and enjoyments, and 
occupy his life in making the Scriptures known, in 
teaching the ignorant, and reclaiming the vicious; when 
he appears to find a sufficient recompense for this la- 
bour, if even a very small flock are brought over to 
Christian faith and practice, I am sure that he must 
himself believe the condition of these persons to be 
dangerous, and that they actually need his interposi- 
tion. If I were to observe further, that he submitted 
with patience to insult and injury, and was only stimu- 
lated by resistance and opposition to more unceasing 
efforts for the conversion of his adversaries, I should 
feel assured that he must be actuated by some power- 
ful and uncommon principle, which thus enabled him 
to overcome the dispositions which are natural to the 
human mind. And when I hear one who has been 
habitually watching over his thoughts, and words, and 
actions, and labouring to regulate them according to 
what he takes to be the will of God, speak of himself 
in a strain like this : " I sin, and repent of my sins, 

Q 



182 



ORIGINALITY OF 



and sin in my repentance: — I pray for forgiveness, and 
sin in my prayers : — I resolve against future sin, and 
sin in forming my resolutions: — so that J may say, my 
whole life is almost a continued course of sin — 
language like this assures me that such an one is judg- 
ing himself according to a law of unusual strictness, 
and can have derived his idea of the purity required 
of him from no other source than the Christian Scrip- 
tures. 

By a like process of argument, when I find a cha- 
racter of this description in the Apostles themselves, 
and when I find them inculcating this as the character 
which is to be cherished in others, I am forcibly led 
to conclude that they personally believed the facts on 
which such a character is founded, and did not invent 
them to serve a purpose of their own. I am sure that 
nothing but an intimate conviction that the matters 
which they taught were true, could have produced a 
state of mind, or actuated a course of life, like theirs. 

IV. The virtues then which are encouraged, I 
might say, created by the Gospel, are, in manyanstan- 
ees, peculiar. But it still remains to be considered, 
whether these virtues agree with the purpose which 
they are professedly destined to serve; the preparing 
those who cultivate them for another and a higher state 
of being. This, however, cannot be denied. They 
have been sometimes accused of unfitting men for earth ; 
\nt there can be no doubt of their suitableness to the 



* Bishop Beveridge. 



THE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER. 183 

most reasonable ideas we can form of heaven. Hu- 
mility is surely the feeling with which a creature like 
man ought to approach his Creator. Benevolence is 
rhe disposition of mind which belongs to a kingdom 
where all will be love and harmony; and in which 
there can be no place for malice, hatred, or revenge. 
And, therefore, unless such a new creation of soul 
were to be expected as is totally inconsistent with re- 
tribution, and would render the present life in a less 
degree subservient or preparatory to another, than the 
principle of metempsychosis, humility, and meekness, 
and brotherly love, must be essential features of the 
character which shall be hereafter received into the 
presence of God. 

It may be inquired, further, are these qualifications, 
which are expected in Christians, such as are calculated 
to promote the well-being and increase the happiness 
of mankind in their present state ? For, although it 
cannot be thought the business of men to prescribe 
what God shall reveal to them, or what the immediate 
effect of a religion ought to be, which professes to 
look towards and lead to a state very different from 
this : still it must be allowed to make in favour of the 
religion, if it assists human happiness. Especially as 
its avowed object is, to recover mankind to a better 
state, from which they have fallen. If their fall from 
that first estate introduced the evils which exist, as 
the Scriptures declare ; we are justified in expecting 
that the nearer they returned towards that state, the 
further they would recede from evil. 




184 



ORIGINALITY OF 



This expectation is fully answered. It has been 
truly observed, that the virtues inculcated in the Gos- 
pel, are the only virtues which we can imagine a 
heavenly teacher to inculcate. As selfishness, rapaci- 
ty, violence, malice, and revenge, are the vices which 
occasion a great part of the distress which prevails in 
human society; so in proportion as these are discour- 
aged, and the contrary virtues established, peace, com- 
fort, and harmony are restored. No doubt men have 
often urged, that meekness and patience under inju- 
ries are incompatible with the condition of mankind, 
and would surrender the feeble as a prey to the violent, 
and expose the best to be trampled upon by the worst 
and vilest of their species. And we can readily con- 
ceive, that this reasoning would have occurred to a 
mere man, who might have assumed to himself the 
title of a divine legislator. Reverse the case, then, 
and suppose, that the Christian law, instead of re- 
quiring forgiveness, permitted retaliation? Do we 
not at once acknowledge, that this would be strong in- 
ternal evidence against its high pretensions ? What 
is the actual state of society, when private vengeance 
is suffered to prevail ? On the other hand, it is proved 
by experience, that meekness and forbearance pre- 
vent and check the evils which insolence and oppres- 
sion create, and often disarm the violence which re- 
sistance tends to exasperate. Christianity, moreover, 
is designed for all ; proposes to itself universal sway 
and dominion; and therefore cannot be expected to 
provide for disobedience to its enactments, or be made 




THE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER. 



185 



accountable for evils which would cease to exist if 
its precepts were generally followed. This would 
justify the rules in question, in a dispensation 
whose object looks beyond this world, even if they 
were found to occasion present inconvenience. But 
we possess a further proof of its emanating from more 
than human wisdom, when it issues a law of which 
human wisdom would dread the consequences, yet 
that law is found to correct and diminish mischief, 
even when imperfectly obeyed. 

I conclude, therefore, that the nature of the Chris- 
tian character affords fresh confirmation of the divine 
origin of the Gospel which inculcates it. In the course 
of things, that character could not be altogether new; 
many of its parts must have been previously recog- 
nised, and only derive stronger sanction from its au- 
thority. But still there is in it so much of novelty 
and originality, as must induce us to seek for their pe- 
culiar source; and the practical results contribute to 
persuade us, that the source must have been divine. 
Though the Christian character, before the preaching 
of Jesus, was in many points untried and unknown ; 
experience has proved that as far as it has prevailed 
and been acted upon, it has cleared and brightened 
the aspect of the moral world: and that it only needs 
to be universally received, in order to remove the 
principal evils which disturb our state on earth. 

And yet with such an agent as man, and in a con= 
dition so complicated as that of human society, it is 
no Jess dangerous than difficult to introduce new modes 
q2 



186 



ORIGINALITY OF, &C. 



of conduct, and new principles of action. What ex- 
tensive and unforeseen results have sometimes pro- 
ceeded from a single statute, like that which provides 
for the support of the poor in England — a single in- 
stitution, like the trial by jury — a single admission, 
like that of the supremacy of the Roman pontiff — a 
single principle, as Luther's appeal to the Bible. How 
difficult, therefore, for the first promulgators of Chris- 
tianity to foresee the possible effects of such a machine, 
the consequences of so new and untried an experi- 
ment ; or to have anticipated the results of its work- 
ing on a subject so complex and contradictory as the 
human heart. 

Experience, however, universally sides in favour 
of Christianity. Reliance upon Christ, the main-spring 
of the whole character, instead of producing careless- 
ness, has quickened the apprehension of offending. 
Christian benevolence and sympathy afford the surest 
alleviation of calamity: Christian meekness and pa- 
tience under injuries prove the strongest safeguard 
against the encroachments of violence and pride. 
In every view, the moral tendencies and known 
effects of the religion strengthen the belief, that its 
origin was not from earth, but from heaven : its au 
thor, not man, but God. 



REASONABLENESS OF, &C. 



187 



CHAPTER IX. 

Reasonableness of the Christian Doctrines. 

It may be thought, that what is gained on the one 
hand, by proving the originality of the doctrines 
taught in the Gospel, according to the argument of 
the preceding chapters, is lost, on the other hand, by 
showing their improbability. If the Gospel proposed 
a probable or a reasonable system of belief, it would 
have been likely to occur to those, who, from what- 
ever motives, undertook to invent or introduce a new 
religion. If it were unlikely to occur, this will show 
it to be improbable and unreasonable ; and so diminish, 
or even destroy, its credibility. 

I conceive, that this objection is the root of all un- 
belief. The direct proofs of the truth of Christianity 
are so full, so various, and so irrefragable,, that men 
cannot remain unbelievers through defect of evidence. 
They doubt or deny in spite of evidence, because of 
the unexpected and unpalatable nature of what that 
evidence attests. 

The Scriptures themselves lead us to anticipate this. 
They tell us, that the doctrines are such as the heart 
naturally revolts from : receives slowly and unwilling- 
ly: such as are contrary to the suggestions of human 
philosophy, and will not be cordially embraced until 
the heart is brought into a docile and submissive pos~ 



1SS 



REASONABLENESS OF 



ture, and is disposed to bow humbly before the ora- 
cles of God. 

It does not however follow, that because the mind 
of man was not likely to perceive certain truths be- 
forehand, therefore they are not truths : especially 
if they concern the nature of God, and the condition 
of man; the relation in which man stands towards 
God, and his ultimate destination. Setting aside the 
Bible, it is impossible not to be astonished at the lit- 
tle which mankind have ever discovered upon these 
momentous points: how vaguely they have conjec- 
tured, what wild opinions they have adopted. Their 
errors confound us, whether we are able to correct 
them or no. Therefore it was to be expected, that 
an actual revelation concerning these things should 
declare what was both original and surprising. And 
we ought to judge of the probable truth of a revela- 
tion, as far as we judge from the subject matter of it, 
rather by its suitableness to human nature and its con- 
formity with our experience, than by its agreement 
with any previous notions or expectations; which 
would be different in every age, every country, and 
every state of civilization. 

The two points, I imagine, at which reason is dis- 
posed to cavil, are, first, the punishment to which the 
Scriptures declare that men are liable from the judg- 
ments of God ;* and, next, the means offered them 

* " The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungod- 
liness and unrighteousness of men." Rom. i. 18. See also ch. ii. 

5, &c. Sec. 



THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 



IS9 



to escape from that punishment, through the vicarious 
sufferings of Jesus as the Redeemer.* With respect to 
hoth of these subjects I shall propose a few observa- 
tions; not intending to exhaust the subject, which 
would require a distinct volume; but to suggest such 
obvious reflections as may indicate the extent and dif- 
ficulty of the whole question, and so dispose the mind 
to a more ready acquiescence in the divine authority 
of scriptural declarations. 

I. The Gospel certainly represents mankind as hav- 
ing departed from their allegiance to God, and on that 
account lying under his condemnation. f 

It Now, as to the first of these statements, how far 
does it agree with experience ? Can we deny, that in 
all quarters of the world, and in every age, the gene- 
ral conduct of men has been utterly inconsistent with 
such laws as we can believe agreeable to a holy and 
perfect Being? We hear it laid down as the dictate of 
reason or conscience, that the God who is in heaven, 
must delight in virtue. But where was the virtue to 
be found which he should delight in? The first duty 
of a creature towards his Creator, is surely adoration. 
But no such duty has been actually paid. It has been 
paid to the works of his hands, or to the works of 
men's own hands ; but the Creator himself has been 
universally neglected. Men have not liked " to re- 

* " This is the will of Him that sent me, that every one which 
seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life." 
John vi. 40. 

j See, in particular, the first two chapters to the Romans. 




190 REASONABLENESS OF 

tain him in their knowledge." So, again, there are 
certain moral qualities which our understanding tells 
us must be agreeable to God, and the contrary vices 
displeasing. We are sure, the moment that we con- 
ceive the idea of a perfect Being, that he must ap- 
prove of temperance, purity, justice, charity, resigna- 
tion to his will, and benevolent affections towards his 
creatures. We are equally sure that he must disap- 
prove of cruelty, pride, malice, injustice, and blind 
indulgence of the passions. Yet what is the public 
history or private annals of the world, except an ac- 
count of the degree in which those vices have been 
practised, and these virtues neglected or unknown ? 
Such is the general picture. There are many differ- 
ent shades of character, both among individuals and 
among nations ; and some, no doubt, have transgressed 
beyond others against the light of reason which they 
enjoyed, or the better knowledge existing in their 
age and country; and others have risen as far above 
the ordinary standard. But, taken collectively, man- 
kind have lived in a way which must, we are sure, be 
contradictory to the will of God, if God requires obe- 
dience or approves virtue. And, further, this way of 
life, instead of serving as a preparation for a purer 
and more advanced state of being, has been calculated 
to render them more and more unfit for it the nearer 
they approached towards it : so that w r e cannot possi- 
bly suppose them admitted to such a state, without a 
radical change, an entire renovation of character. 
Independent of all inquiry into causes, this is the 

" ,r - \>; ' W* mm 



THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 



191 



aspect which the moral condition of the human race 
actually presents. And the question meets us, in what 
light God views such a state? whether he regards it 
as a moral Governor, or no? 

Upon this point we must abide by one of these two 
suppositions. Either he is indifferent as to human 
character, and takes no notice of it: or he will punish 
habitual neglect of his government, and violation of 
the laws of moral duty. The first of these was the 
avowed opinion of Epicurus and his followers, among 
the ancients, and is the practical belief of the majority 
at all times. It is certainly in direct opposition to the 
principles on which the Gospel rests. But it is no less 
contrary to the best conclusions of our reason, and to 
many indications afforded us by the actual appearance 
of the world. 

The idea is strongly imprinted upon the mind of 
man, even without revelation, that God will " discern 
between the righteous and the wicked, between him 
that serveth God (according to the light which he en- 
joys) and him that serveth him not/'* Those whose 
reason has been most exercised, in every age, and 
those whose moral views have been least perverted by 
habits which such a conviction would disturb, have 
acquiesced generally in this belief: though as to the 
when or the where, they have been unable to give ac- 
count. For we cannot but allow that the recom- 
penses made to either class, in the present life, are 



* Mai. ch. iii. 



192 



REASONABLENESS Oi 



very imperfect. The instances of successful wicked- 
ness, and of unrewarded virtue, are not rare. And 
even though notorious and flagrant vices commonly 
bring their own chastisement; there is a sober sort of 
intemperance, and a prudent degree of covetousness* 
and a sharp attention to self-interest and self-indul- 
gence, which is much more common, and has quite as 
little concern with the service of God, and as little 
regard to his will, or to the good of his creatures, as 
more open profligacy : yet which is perhaps the like- 
liest temper for procuring the advantages and enjoy- 
ing the pleasures of this life. A man of this habit 
and disposition will provide more largely for himself 
and his family ; w T ill live more easily and smoothly; 
will experience fewer crosses and vexations than the 
Christian, who is " working out his salvation with 
fear and trembling." As far as this world is concern- 
ed, he will be more prosperous. The other may en- 
joy a purer peace, a holier satisfaction ; but it will not 
be derived from any thing which this world confers 
upon him. It will not arise from present circum- 
stances or advantages; but will be internal, and pros- 
pective. 

This appears even from the acknowledgments which 
are daily made by infidels themselves. " What will 
become of you," said one to his pious friend, 66 if 
there is no future state?" To which question only one 
reply could be made : " What will be your case if 
there is ?" The apprehensions which are felt by many- 
persons, who are not infidels, lest those in whom they 



THE CHRISTIAN SdCTRINXS. 



193 



have an interest should take what is called a serious 
turn, i. e. should believe the Bible literally and prac- 
tically, have the same origin. They arise from the 
conviction that this world's advantages are not best 
consulted by those who are mainly anxious about an- 
other ; and that all who pursue this object consistently, 
walk in a path rugged as well as narrow, and are ex- 
posed, in most situations, to many inconveniences and 
obstructions. 

Yet, independently of all that is declared in Scrip- 
ture, we cannot doubt that persons living thus differ- 
ently, are very differently regarded in the sight of 
God. It must be so, if we allow him to be possessed 
of justice, goodness, holiness: of such qualities as we 
require to make even the perfect man. To believe 
that God is equally pleased with the voluptuary or the 
worldling, who acknowledge no laws but those of 
pleasure or ambition, and with a Christian who re- 
strains even legitimate desires, lest they should obtain 
undue influence: that he beholds with the same eyes 
a Lazarus, bearing a life of penury with fortitude and 
a death of torture with resignation; and a Dives, im- 
mersed in selfish gratifications, and never raising his 
thoughts towards the Giver of all good: — is virtual 
atheism, Yet, where are they recompensed ? Certain- 
ly not in this life; and, if a future judgment is a dream, 
no where. 

Take the case of St. Paul, whose example I select 
in place of thousands whose characters would suit this 
argument as well, only because the events of his life 

R 



194 



REASONABLENESS OF 



are familiarly known. I do not, of course, assume 
the truth of Christianity ; but I suppose it will be al- 
lowed, that he believed it to be true; and that by his 
labours and his sacrifices in that cause, he considered 
that he was serving God. For the sake, then, of what 
he believed to be God's service, he resigned what men 
by common consent hold most valuable; relations, re- 
putation, the esteem of those with whom he lived: he 
endured the loss of every worldly comfort; he un- 
derwent the severest privations and sufferings; he ex- 
posed himself to a cruel death daily ; and at last he 
met it. Now even if he were mistaken as to the ab- 
solute duty of this course of conduct, which depends 
on the truth of Christianity ; still his mistake does not 
blemish his moral character; and the Supreme Being, 
such a Supreme Being as any enlightened philosopher 
will own or adore, must regard a life so devoted to 
his service, and sacrifices so readily made in obedi- 
ence to what w r as supposed to be his will, with com- 
placency and approbation. Yet this man, if in this 
life only he had hope, was of all men most miserable. 
So truly so, that many of the heathens desired, out of 
pure compassion, to dissuade the Christians from re- 
signing what was most delightful in life, and braving 
what was most terrible in death, as they believed, 
without prospect of return. 

And the case is the same with regard to all obedi- 
ence to the supposed will of God, paid, because it is 
understood to be his will. Such obedience cannot be 
maintained without sacrifices of some sort: a renun- 



THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 



195 



ciation of present interests, a mortification of present 
inclinations, for which it cannot be said that this 
world makes any immediate return. 

If, then, we deny that God will award a future re- 
compense to the righteous and the wicked, according 
to their respective lives, we may acknowledge, in- 
deed, a Deity, whose existence and whose power is 
shown by the works of the creation ; but we take from 
him all moral attributes. We make him indifferent 
to what is done with the purpose of conforming to his 
will; and to what is done in open defiance or careless 
neglect of it. We make him indifferent to those qua- 
lities which in ourselves command our most reasona- 
ble approbation, or dislike. We suppose that he has 
implanted in us reason to distinguish between the 
grand outlines of good and evil ; and conscience to 
admonish us when we offend against what is known 
to be morally right, and pursue what w T e feel to be 
wrong ; yet that he is himself unconcerned as to the 
choice we may make, and the road we may pursue, 
In judging of men, we should think this very incon- 
sistent with a perfect character. We should think a 
parent censurable, who should make no difference be- 
tween the children who might have deserted, and 
those who had supported him : between the Go- 
ner il who had betrayed, and the Cordelia who had 
cherished him. We should blame the master, who 
not only left the servant who had robbed him unno- 
ticed, but failed to reward the other who had devoted 
his powers or risked his life in his cause. We should 



196 



REASONABLENESS OF 



not admire the king, who beheld the traitors who had 
opposed him, and his most faithful adherents, with the 
same eyes of indifference; and, having every dispen- 
sation in his own power, allowed the principal share 
of advantage to belong to his enemies rather than his 
friends. And this natural feeling becomes far more 
sacred, when we remember that in the case under 
consideration, the service on the one hand, and the 
disobedience on the other, is connected with a moral 
difference of character. 

These illustrations, however short they may fall of 
exactness, serve the purpose for which they are 
brought ; they show that we not only see, in our na- 
tuTal judgments, a wide distinction between virtuous 
and vicious conduct, but that we expect they will be 
different!}' treated. Many sins, indeed, are declared 
in Scripture to be hateful to God, to incur divine con- 
demnation, towards which we are ourselves disposed 
to be very lenient; but there are other sins which we 
even wish to see rewarded as they deserve ; and are 
indignant when heinous cruelty or rapacity or trea- 
chery escape unpunished. Men sometimes, in speak- 
ing of the divine wrath, attempt to palliate guilt as the 
effect of situation, and the concurrence of inevitable 
circumstances; but when the case comes nearer into 
view, and their moral sense operates unperverted, 
they acknowledge by their judgments that guilt is 
guilt, and that they look upon punishment as what it 
naturally deserves, and ought necessarily to incur. 

Upon the whole, then, the idea of God's future 



THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 



197 



judgment awaiting those who have transgressed his 
laws, and refused him obedience, instead of contra- 
dicting our natural sentiments, or the dictates of our 
reason, does in fact agree with them, and confirm 
them. We, indeed, are inadequate judges of the de- 
gree of guilt which mankind have incurred, or the de- 
gree of punishment which awaits it. We are too 
much interested in the cause to decide it. Daily 
examples prove how differently we estimate trans- 
gressions against the majesty and holiness of God, and 
transgressions of which we see the immediate conse- 
quences in the evil which they produce in the world. 
But it may be concluded, generally, that it forms no 
internal evidence against the divine origin of the Gos- 
pel, that it represents men to be liable to the wrath of 
their Creator. They have transgressed against him : 
reason and conscience lead us to expect that trans- 
gression shall be followed by punishment; but pun- 
ishment is neither universally nor equally awarded 
in this world: it is not, therefore, improbable, that it 
may be awarded in another state, as the Christian re- 
ligion declares it will be. 

In contradiction to these analogical reasonings, many 
will be disposed to argue, that God would not have 
placed mankind in circumstances where he must have 
foreseen their fall, if the consequences of falling were 
so fatally serious. He would not have created a race> 
of whom so large a portion would perish everlast= 
ingly. 

R 2 



198 



REASONABLENESS OF 



We touch here upon a great difficulty, which, in 
our present state of knowledge, or rather of ignorance, 
it is impossible to clear up. There would be more 
force in the objection, if this were the only fact in the 
appearance of the world which baffled our inquiries, 
or contradicted our expectations. But it is only one 
of a series of difficulties, which meet us at every view 
©f the creation ; which revelation does not enable us 
entirely to unravel ; but which are still more inexpli- 
cable, if we set aside revelation. 

Future punishment of the offences of this life is sup- 
posed to be incompatible with the goodness of God, 
who created man under circumstances of such tremen- 
dous responsibility. But is it not a fact, that number- 
less cases appear before us daily, incompatible with 
the abstract idea of divine goodness which we should 
be inclined to form? I do not see the eternal world, 
and therefore I may deny that misery, as the result of 
misconduct in this earthly state, will exist there. So 
if I did not see the present world, I might deny that 
pain, and sorrow, and the many physical evils which 
abound, could exist in the work of an omnipotent 
Creator. But I should be mistaken. And so those may 
be mistaken, who, on no better grounds than a priori 
reasoning, promise themselves impunity in the world 
to come. We must frame our notions in conformity 
with what we see, rather than what we might imagine. 
And surely the person who looks abroad into the na- 
tural world will find much to surprise him, much that 
Is inconsistent with the views of philosophical perfee- 



THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 



199 



tion which he^would fondly desire to entertain. The 
book of nature is at least as mysterious as the book of 
revelation.* 

Consider, for example, the degree of laborious ex- 
ertion which is inseparably mixed up with the consti- 
tution of the world ; which mankind must either sub- 
mit to, or be savages. The great majority of persons 
in this country, of all classes, exercise severe toil, 
either of body or mind, ten hours in the day. If they 
remitted this, they could not subsist; neither could 
those indispensable supplies be furnished on which the 
comfort of the whole community depends. I am not 
insensible to the many alleviations which make this 
labour tolerable ; but if we were judging beforehand, 
or picturing a world from imagination, would it bear 
this form ? 

The pain, distress, and privation, which meet us 
wherever we look, are no less perplexing. Pain, 
arising from the very constitution of our bodies, and 
apparently inseparable from it. Distress, arising from 
the abruption of earthly connexions, and the irrepara- 
ble loss of those who made life valuable. Privation, 
arising from no arbitrary distribution of the goods of 
life, or rapacity on the part of other men, or accidental 
misfortune ; but from the condition into which man- 

* It is not the business of this treatise to enter more fully upon 
this subject. I only suggest a train of reasoning, in answer to an 
obvious and plausible objection; which the reader may carry on 
in his own mind, or find completed in the most masterly style, in 
Butler's "Analogy of Natural and Revealed Religion/' 



200 



REASONABLENESS OF 



kind are naturally brought, in every country, and at 
every stage of civilization. Remove from these uni- 
versal dispensations what may be called their moral 
cause, i. e. their effects on character, and the religious 
purposes which they serve ;— which considerations 
we must remove, if we desert revelation; — and then 
say, whether the world answers our previous anticipa- 
tions? 

Other circumstances connected with the nature of 
mankind are equally unaccountable. As in the most 
favourable season of the most genial climate, all fruit 
attains the most complete perfection, and falls in its 
maturity : such is the condition which we should look 
for in the chief production of nature, the human race. 
But of those born into the world, how many perish, 
before they have either known or communicated en- 
joyment, or indeed any feelings but those of anxiety 
and sorrow: how many of those who attain a riper 
age, are cut off at the moment when they were begin- 
ning to repay the labours of education ? How many 
others fall in the very meridian of vigour and useful- 
ness; and how large a proportion, from the unfavour- 
able circumstances in which they are placed, and the 
moral perversion of their hearts, live and die under a 
total incapacity of fulfilling those functions which 
might be expected of moral agents, the rational crea- 
tures of God, inhabiting a world which he had design- 
ed as their abode ? 

It is not my purpose to insist further on these topics, 
•which I only suggest in the way of defensive argu- 



THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 



201 



ment, and leave for the reflection of the candid sceptic. 
Whatever ground he may take, short of absolute athe- 
ism, he will be unable to account for these and other 
phaenomena of the world around him. He will find 
facts inconsistent with his theories. He will see ap- 
pearances which confute his philosophy. He will be 
involved in difficulties much greater than any which 
he complains of in Scripture. It is the error of those 
who cannot or will not think, to imagine that the prin- 
cipal difficulties in religion belong to revealed religion. 
They encounter the deist still more obstinately than 
the Christian. They encounter every man who is not 
prepared to say that this world and all it contains is 
the work of blind chance, and not of intelligent omni- 
potence. 

Perhaps, then, it may be wise to say this; and, on 
account of these perplexities, withdraw our thoughts 
from all religion whatever, and plunge into atheism ? 
But here we shall meet more difficulties still. Every 
plant, every animal, every object of nature which we 
cast our eyes upon, contains a refutation of atheism. 
We need go no further than ourselves : the mechanism 
which we carry about in our bodies, and which is con- 
stantly at work; the feelings of which we are con- 
scious, the powers which we exercise, and the intel- 
lect which we possess, carry us irresistibly back to a 
source of all these wonders, and fasten down our faith 
to an intelligent Creator. 

- If, then, it is a difficulty, which I am very willing 
to concede it is. to understand why God should have 



202 



REASONABLENESS 0£ 



created moral agents liable to the consequences of 
misemployed free agency, supposing those conse- 
quences to be so calamitous as the Christian Scriptures 
affirm : it is not a single or solitary instance of diffi- 
culty ; it is only one of many inexplicable circum- 
stances connected with the present state of mankind. 
If the case were otherwise, and as long as we confined 
our views to what is called natural religion, all were 
clear and intelligible, and the world only became per- 
plexing through the interference of Christianity ; this 
would be a plausible argument against Christianity, 
requiring us to look into the direct evidence by which 
it is established with additional vigilance. But this 
cannot be pretended. Christianity, in fact, furnishes 
the only clue. It does not acquaint us why we are 
born in a labyrinth ; but it conducts us out of one, in 
which, without that guide, we must remain and wan- 
der for ever. 

I conclude, therefore, that the doctrine contained 
in the Gospel, of the guilt and condemnation of man, 
is not of such a nature as to set aside the evidences of 
its truth which we derive from other sources. That 
doctrine, instead of opposing, rather coincides with 
other undeniable facts or appearances which confront 
us in the world, and agrees with the apprehensions 
which mankind are disposed to entertain, and have, in 
some degree, entertained, in all ages. 

II. The second point of leading interest which I 
proposed to consider, is the Christian doctrine of re- 
demption; i. e. of remission, through the sacrifice of 



THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 203 

Christ, of the penalty incurred by the sinfulness of 
mankind. 

The credibility of this doctrine depends in a great 
measure on the reception given to the former. If we 
hold the general alienation from God, and neglect of 
his government which has prevailed among men, to 
be a light matter; if we say with the infidels of old, 
" God careth not for it;" and mock at the idea of his 
inflicting punishment upon his creatures; then the 
doctrine of redemption must necessarily appear " fool- 
ishness." But, suppose the contrary: a supposition, 
which, as I have shown, is not inconsistent with many 
intimations which the world actually presents; then 
we cannot be surprised at the means revealed in the 
Gospel for the remedy of so vast an evil. 

It is easy to cavil at those means, and the nature of 
the remedy: to pretend that justice and mercy are 
one with God; and that if he sees fit to pardon human 
offences, he can pardon them without requiring a sub- 
stitute. This is, in truth, the very question at issue. 

The governor of our own or any other civilized 
country could not grant impunity to those w 7 ho trans- 
gressed the laws enacted in that country, without 
overturning the whole system of government. God 
lias to deal with the same agents: why is it so sure 
that impunity, on his part, would be followed by no 
similar consequences? 

The great problem with every conscientious magis- 
trate is, how he can exercise lenity without injury to 
the general cause of morals and good order. If he 



204 



REASONABLENESS u£ 



could grant a free pardon, without encouraging licen- 
tiousness, and increasing the number of offenders, no 
punishment would ever be inflicted. 

So with respect to the moral guilt of the human 
race. We can hardly doubt but our world, and the 
circumstances in which we are placed in it, are part of 
a scheme more extended than we at present under- 
stand. And in that general scheme, misery, or what 
we term punishment, may be the natural and neces- 
sary consequence of guilt; and moral government 
may require, for reasons just now hinted, that such 
consequence should really follow, such punishment 
should not be dispensed with. The Scriptures seem 
to lead us to views of this sort. They often represent 
punishment, i. e. the displeasure and abhorrence of 
God, as falling upon sin. not so much in the way of 
sentence as of immediate and necessary result. Thus 
Jesus insinuates that spiritual death is the state to 
which mankind were naturally reduced by sin, when 
he declares, " He that heareth my word, and believeth 
on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall 
not come into condemnation ; but isjiassed from death 
unto life"* Of those who " do not believe in the 
Son of God," he affirms, that " they are condemned 
already;"! that they abide in darkness; that their 
" sin remainzth" The Apostle argues to the same 
purpose, when he says, that " sin had reigned unto 
death;" that " death had passed upon all men, for 



* John, v. 24. 



f John, iii. 18. xii. 46. ix. 41 



THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 



205 



that all had sinned."* And the general tenor of the 
Scriptures leads us, upon the whole, to conclude that 
what we call, using the language of men, the anger of 
God against sin, is an essential part of his attributes ; 
that he views the condition to which men are conse- 
quently reduced with pity ; but that such is the nature 
of his government, that whilst the moral state remains 
the same, the grant of pardon and reception into his 
favour is impossible. 

Objections, no doubt, may be urged on the other 
side. It is not pretended that we can clear up all the 
perplexities of the moral world. If a man is deter- 
mined to close his eyes against revelation until that is 
done, he must keep them shut for ever. There are 
some things of which he must be content to be igno- 
rant ; and silence the pride of his understanding by the 
futility of " replying against God," or of supposing 
that He should not " do right/' to whose wisdom and 
goodness the whole created world bears testimony. 

Under the influence of these considerations let him 
suppose the case which the Gospel assumes; that it 
was the divine purpose to exhibit a scheme of govern- 
ment in which mercy and justice should meet to- 
gether: in which God might exert his merciful desire 
of recovering mankind from their lost condition, and 
yet preserve unimpaired the laws of his moral govern- 
ment. Then appears the fitness and consistency of 
the truths declared in the Gospel. " God is just," and 



* Rom. v. 21, 12. 



206 



HE ASON ABLENESS OF 



shows his abhorrence of sin; and yet he is merciful, 
and " justifies those that believe in Jesus."* 

For although it is the doctrine of the Gospel, that 
the death of Jesus is received as an atonement for the 
sins of every individual who accepts the benefit of his 
redemption: yet we should err in representing his 
death as merely a gratuitous substitution of innocence 
for guilt : it exhibited, at the same time, a public dis- 
play of the inevitable consequences of sin.t It was 
directed against that very error which is most deeply 
rooted, and most practically injurious : the error of 
supposing that the conduct of men is a matter of in- 
difference to their Creator; that no future conse- 
quences depend upon the course of life which may be 
led upon earth. Every offence which is committed 
against the light of reason, or of conscience, or of the 
divine law, is a practical effect of this error: and the 
inadequate restraint which a vague idea of future re- 
tribution exercised amongst the ancient heathens, and 
which a more general conviction of a future judgment 
exercises now, is a proof of the slowness of the heart 
to be swayed by the dread of an unseen Being, or the 
fear of an unknown consequence. Some reject every 
idea of retribution. Others overlook the prospect of 
its extending to themselves. Multitudes imagine, that 

* Rom. In. 26. 

•j-The third chapter of Mr. Erskine's excellent treatise on the 
Internal Evidences, exhibits this view of the atonement in a most 
convincing manner. The whole volume is admirably calculated to 

satisfy the doubts of a philosophical objector. 



THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 



207 



though what they consider very heinous sins may be 
avenged, yet a neglect of their Maker, and a systema- 
tic indulgence of the natural passions, and in particu- 
lar the transgression, whatever it be, to which they 
are individually most addicted, will be passed over. 
The deceitfulness of the heart; the prevalence of vice: 
the moral disorder of the world, encourage all these 
delusions. Men contemplate the habits of their fel- 
low-creatures, instead of the divine holiness; and 
comfort themselves with the poor satisfaction that the 
majority are in the same condition with themselves.* 
Now of these vague or false imaginations, every one 
is swept away when the mysterious truth, — God ap- 
pearing in the form and undergoing the punishment 
of man, — is received into the heart. So stupendous 
a sacrifice discovers the misery of those in whose fa- 
vour it was prepared. It speaks a language which can- 
not be refuted : a language addressed to the heart no 
less than the reason. It puts an end to the delusive 
hope, that men may pass through the world regard- 
less of God as their Creator, and disobedient to him 
as their moral Governor, and yet fear no evil: that if 
any eternity lies before them, it must needs be an 
eternity of happiness. Let them be once persuaded. 

* Ut sit magna, tamen certe lenta ira Deorum est. 
Si curant igitur cunctos purrire nocentes, 
Quando ad me venient ? Sed et exorabile numen, 
Fortasse experiar. 

Sic animum dira trepidum formidine culpx 
Confirmant. Juven. xiii. 100, 



:20S REASONABLENESS Of 

that one who " was with God in the beginning, and 
was God," became man, that he might redeem men 
from the penalty incurred by their sins; that he might 
satisfy the offended justice of God in behalf of all who 
should commit themselves to him as a deliverer and a 
ruler :-— then there is an end of all vague conjectures and 
groundless expectations. We know that sin is noticed, 
nay, is condemned by God, because he required a pro- 
pitiation for it : we are sure that its recompense is 
dreadful, since a dreadful recompense has already 
been exacted. If Jesus underwent the death which is 
reserved for the worst of human crimes ; we have con- 
vincing evidence of the doom which impends over all 
for whom he is not a substitute. His cross exhibits an 
inscription which testifies at once " the goodness and 
the severitv of God : on them that continue rebellious, 
severity but goodness towards all that " receive his 
goodness/'* For if God spared not his own Son ; if 
the bitter cup might not pass from him, except he 
drank it, how vain must be the prevalent expectation, 
that, if there is another world, those who fear him, 
and those who fear him not, will fare in it equally 
well ? 

The force of this palpable argument, this sensible 
proof of the evil of sin, is sufficiently exemplified by 
its effects. It daily produces a transformation of moral 
character, which nothing else can achieve. Its power 
is attested by the fact which some deny, and others 



* See Rom, xi. 22. 



THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 20§ 

treat as a paradox, but which really admits of easy 
explanation, and is confirmed by every page in the an- 
nals of Christianity ; that those persons are uniformly 
the most fearful of sin, and the most singular in their 
walk of holiness, who have the fullest reliance upon 
redemption through Jesus. There is nothing wonder- 
ful or unaccountable in this: it is the natural effect of 
their belief. For they, of all men, have the liveliest 
conviction of the responsibility, danger, and lamenta- 
ble consequences of sin. Others' may hesitate, and do 
hesitate, to admit the certainty of its condemnation. 
But they who believe in the sacrifice of Christ have 
the clearest apprehension and assurance of this truth. 
Nothing can make so certain the punishment, which, 
if indulged, it will hereafter incur, as the punishment 
which it has actually incurred. In proportion, there- 
fore, as a man's views of the atonement are clear, his 
abhorrence and dread of opposing the divine will are 
sincere and operative. The cross of Christ is at once 
a refuge in which his conscience may find shelter, and 
a beacon holding forth to him a constant warning 
against the carelessness, the errors, and the corruptions 
of the world. 

If this is the natural result and the practical ef- 
fect of the death of Jesus, we seem to approach to- 
wards a clearer understanding of the wisdom of that 
mysterious dispensation. 

Let the objector calmly reflect upon the state in 
which the Gospel found the human race. There is 
surely nothing unreasonable in supposing that a reve- 
s 2 



210 



REASONABLENESS 01 



lation should be made to creatures so ignorant as men 
were, without revelation, of all that can possibly be 
pleasing to a holy and perfect Being. Let him consi- 
der, further, to what it professes to lead them. And 
I think he must allow, that if a revelation were to be 
made with the intent of convincing men of their sin- 
fulness, and of their need of moral regeneration, and 
of assisting their progress in this necessary work, the 
Christian dispensation contains every thing essential 
to such a purpose. Admit the end; and we cannot 
deny the suitableness of the means. 

The Scriptures declare, that God is offended. Rea- 
son and conscience confirm the fact ; and point out the 
difference between the character of man and the com- 
mands of God. He, then, against whom we have 
transgressed, is our Creator; who by the same power 
which gave us being, has power also to destroy ; to " de- 
stroy both body and soul." The first thing we might 
desire to our comfort and confidence is, that one who 
should undertake to deliver us from this danger, and 
avert the wrath of Almighty God, should also be him- 
self God : also be almighty, that without hesitation we 
might trust our cause in his hands. And this is de- 
clared to us in the Gospel. We are there assured,, 
that he who undertook the redemption of man, is in- 
deed God; was " with God from the beginning;" and 
claimed to himself nothing to which he was not enti<- 
tied, and took away from God nothing of his dignity 
and majesty, when he affirmed himself to be " equal 
with God." This gives to the Christian a sure ground 



THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 



211 



of reliance, to believe that he who made propitiation 
for us, is equal to him whom we have offended : that 
" he and the Father are one/' 

Still the thoughts of men fail before the contempla- 
tion of the greatness of God. We find it difficult to 
conceive the idea of Him whom no man has seen at 
anytime. There would be a satisfaction in having 
one whom we might think of more easily ; feel nearer 
to; apply to with less of awe. Hence probably the 
ready recurrence of mankind to visible representations 
of the Deity, and to unauthorized mediators; they 
feel the need of something to which their minds may 
attach themselves more familiarly. And this wish, 
apparently so impracticable, meets its fulfilment in the 
Christian doctrine of God incarnate; " God with us; ?J 
" God manifest in the flesh." He removes the veil 
which separated God from man. " He brings down 
to our conceptions, in a manner the most familiar and 
impressive, those high attributes of truth and justice, 
and mercy, which could not be felt or understood as 
they existed in the abstract and invisible Deity."* 

In addition to these two leading points, the recon- 
cilement of rebellious subjects to their King, and the 
introducing of that King to the knowledge of his sub- 
jects with less array of terror: the indirect effects of 
the Christian doctrine are wonderfully suited to the 
nature and situation of mankind. 

There is in many a meek and humble disposition, 
tremblingly alive to the majesty of God, which might 

* Chalmers, 



212 



REASONABLENESS OF 



doubt his willingness to accept the repentance of his 
creatures, and to pardon the transgressions which, 
once committed, must be forever present to his view. 

The mortifications, superstitious penances, and vo- 
luntary martyrdoms which men in different ages and 
countries have imposed upon themselves, prove that 
this is a feeling to which the mind naturally inclines 
when awakened to religion, but only partially inform- 
ed. The holiness of God, if revealed to us without 
an indisputable evidence of his love, might have re- 
pelled instead of attracting our endeavours to serve 
and please him. But fears of this kind, which of all 
others deserve most tenderness, vanish at once before 
the belief that " God so loved the world, as to give his 
only Son" for their salvation ; and that Jesus, in love 
and pity for the souls of men, bore the infirmities of 
the flesh, and laid down his life for their sakes. Such 
thoughts .administer consolation to the remorse of a 
wounded conscience, and give fresh vigour to obedi- 
ence. Are we so precious in the sight of God, as the 
mysterious plan of redemption emboldens us to believe? 
Then is there, indeed, good hope, that he will be fa- 
vourable to our penitence, and accept our imperfect 
and unworthy services. 

Again, the humble condition in which Jesus ap- 
peared, might at first sight be deemed inconsistent 
-with the high character which he assumed. And cer- 
tainly it is improbable that men who contrived a fic- 
tion, should represent the Son of God to be so born 
and so descended 5 or if they invented the history of 



THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 213 

his life, should make it so little dignified, so little at- 
tractive to the imagination. But when we consider 
th'e whole purpose ascribed to him ; not only to offer 
an atonement for sin, but to show a pattern* of virtue ; 
not only to reconcile men to God, but to " leave them 
an example" of a life led according to his will: then 
what might be thought an inconsistency in his his- 
tory, becomes an additional testimony to its truth. 
Had he assumed a situation of worldly splendour, had 
he been invested with the dignity of royal honours, 
he might have furnished an example of moderation in 
affluence, and of humility in power, to that very small 
proportion of mankind to whom riches or honours 
can ever belong. But to the vast majority of what 
mankind are and always must be in all ages, he could 
have left no lesson. They could not have trodden in 
his steps, for he would have walked in paths very dif- 
ferent from theirs. 

Philosophical teachers, indeed, have commonly be- 
stowed little thought upon the poor and uninstructed 
classes, who were neither able to appreciate nor repay 
their labours. But in the sight of God we cannot 
possibly imagine that one of his creatures is more va- 
lued than another, however different their earthly 
conditions. The probability is, therefore, that the 
interests of the majority would be consulted. And to 
how great a degree they are consulted- by the poverty 
and humility of Jesus, is seen by daily experience. 
No consolation is more frequently recurred to, or 
more gratefully received, than the reflection that he 



214 



REASONABLENESS OF 



came not 'Ho be ministered unto, but to minister,'' 
and often "had not where to lay his head." The 
evils of life lose much of their bitterness, when we 
believe thgit similar evils were actually experienced 
by him who for us men and for our salvation came 
down from heaven;" and who having himself suffer- 
ed human trials, and known human infirmities, is 
able " to succour them that are tempted." For it was 
no temporary character that he assumed. His office 
was not finished, nor his mercy exhausted, when he 
left this world. The Christian enjoys an additional 
encouragement in the difficult warfare which he must 
needs maintain in his progress towards eternity, from 
the assurance that he whose compassion was first at- 
tracted by the state of man, still extends his care over 
all who apply to him; still watches their spiritual in- 
terests, and intercedes for their many failings; so that 
enlivened by his presence, and strengthened by his 
support, they may go on their way rejoicing, and ful- 
fil the course of probation allotted them. 

It appears, therefore, that the Christian doctrine of 
redemption through a Mediator, is intelligible, as 
well as original; and is recommended to our reason 
no less than to our faith. Considered as it ought in 
all fairness to be considered, according to things as 
they exist, and in connexion with the actual state of 
the world and of mankind, it derives additional pro- 
bability from its adaptation to the purpose for which 
it was professedly devised. It finds mankind in a 
condition of moral ruin and spiritual ignorance; what- 



THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 



215 



ever be the cause, this fact is indisputable; and it 
brings to their restoration a deliverer, who is God, 
with power to save; — who is man, with tenderness to 
pity ; — who has assured mankind of his love, by a 
proof the most uncontrovertible and endearing: — who 
is with us to animate our exertions in his service; — ■ 
and is with God to " make intercession" for our infir- 
mities. Can we suppose a reasonable man to have 
been asked, what would best enable him to pursue a 
religious course in his passage through this world, he 
could hardly have required less, and certainly he 
could not have expected more. 



.216 



FIRST PROMULGATION 



CHAPTER X. 

First Pro?nulgation of Christianity. 

I have shown, in the preceding chapters, the 
strong internal evidence which supports the divine 
authority of the Christian Scriptures. And yet a 
great deal of internal evidence must always remain, 
which it is not possible to draw out into actual proof. 
The attentive reader of the New Testament will find 
this at every turn; and the best use he can make of 
the arguments which have been urged, would be to 
employ them as hints according to which he might 
examine the Gospel for himself. 

I come now to consider the first propagation of the 
religion. We have indisputable proof that it was ac- 
tively and successfully propagated, and made its way 
with surprising rapidity, when we know that there 
were multitudes of Christians of both sexes and of all 
ages, in Rome, in Greece, and in various parts of 
Asia, within seventy years of the crucifixion.* This 
is an historical truth; and when the nature of the re- 
ligion, its originality, and its demands, are consider- 
ed, it may well be reckoned an extraordinary fact. 
We may, indeed, be loosely told, that mankind are 



* See ch. i. p. 8. At large in Paley, p. ii. c. ix. 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



217 



naturally fond of the marvellous; that the ignorant 
are prone to superstition ; and that in a barbarous age 
any idle tale finds a multitude ready to give it their 
belief. But a reasonable man will not be satisfied 
with any thing so vague as this. Though the marvel- 
lous may be greedily listened to, when it demands 
nothing further than an idle acquiescence, mankind 
are more circumspect and incredulous when they are 
called upon to sacrifice all their former opinions, de- 
sires, habits, and prejudices. The cause could not be 
forwarded by Jewish superstition, since it is abun- 
dantly plain, that the Jews were extremely slow and 
unwilling to receive Christianity, and in fact never 
did adopt it, as a people ; neither can we resort to 
barbarism, since the nations which furnished the first 
proselytes, were the most civilized then existing, in 
an age proverbial for civilization. It becomes, there- 
fore, an interesting object of inquiry, to trace the 
manner in which the religion first gained ground. 

The account which is borne on the face of the his- 
tory, relates, that at an annual feast at Jerusalem, the 
attention of certain Jews who had resorted thither, 
from many different countries, for the purpose of na- 
tional worship, was attracted by a party of Galileans, 
who addressed the multitude in their respective lan- 
guages. We can form some idea of the nature of such 
an occurrence, by figuring to ourselves a Jewish as- 
sembly in any of the European capitals, where Jews 
of every country are assembled; and supposing twelve 
persons of the same persuasion, who were known 



21S 



FIRST PROMULGATION 



never to have travelled, to begin a comment upon the 
Hebrew Scriptures, in the different languages of Eu- 
rope. 

During the inquiry which this circumstance excited, 
one of these, named Peter, who had been a fisherman 
in his native province, Galilee, undertook to explain 
the subject of the general astonishment by referring to 
a passage in their prophets, whose authority all ac- 
knowledged ; and which contained a promise of inter- 
position like that which the assembly was now wit- 
nessing. And he proceeded to this effect, declaring 
the purpose of the present miracle.* 

Hear my explanation of this visible interposition of 
Almighty power. Ye, the men of Israel, have cruci- 
fied Jesus of Nazareth; to whose divine mission God 
bore witness by. the miracles which he enabled him to 
perform in the sight of you all. God, however, has 
raised him from the dead, as your great prophet David 
foretold concerning him, in a passage with which you 
are familiar; but which, you must be aware, cannot 
apply to David, whose death and burial are undis- 
puted ; but which does, in truth, foretel the resurrec- 
tion of that expected Messiah whom God had pro- 
mised from the race of David. We here stand up and 
testify, that Jesus has risen again, according to the 
prophecy; and that he has shed forth upon us his dis- 
ciples the Holy Spirit, the effects of which ye now 
see and hear. " Therefore let all the house of Israel 



* See Acts, ii. 14, Sec, 



OF CHRISTI ANJTY. 



219 



know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus 
whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. " 

This was the first public declaration of the divinity 
or Messiahship of Jesus, after his death; and was so 
convincing to the hearers, that three thousand from 
that moment made open profession of their belief in 
him, and were added to the-existing body of his dis- 
ciples. 

Now there must surely have been something very 
insuperable in the proofs presented to the minds of 
this assembly, when so large a number pleaded guilty 
to the charge of having been accessary to the execu- 
tion of one whom they ought to have distinguished as 
bearing a divine commission by the works which he 
performed ; and agreed to embrace a religion preached 
in his name, as the only remaining condition of par- 
don. They must have been impressed with a very 
strong conviction, before they consented to acknow- 
ledge him as the Son of God, who not two months be- 
fore had suffered the death of a malefactor. There is 
no time when men are less likely, without overpower- 
ing testimony, to acknowledge a fact, than when it 
proves themselves guilty. Nor was there any ima- 
ginable reason for their making this confession, ex- 
cept the conviction of their understandings and their 
consciences. There was nothing said to excite their 
passions ; nothing to alarm their fears, nothing to raise 
their hopes, unless it derived force from undeniable 
facts. There was no proof that Jesus had been sent 
from God, unless, as Peter asserts, he had been really 



.230 



riRST PROMULGATION 



" approved of God among them" by miraculous 
deeds. There was no weight in the prophecy ad- 
duced, and which they had not been accustomed to 
apply to the expected Messiah, except what it might 
obtain from the fact affirmed, the resurrection of Jesus. 
There was no proof of his exercising supernatural 
power now, more than when he suffered on the cross, 
unless that power were actually witnessed in the gifts 
conferred on the apostles. Was there no one in that 
numerous assembly who could refute the unexpected 
interpretation of an ancient prophecy given by an un- 
educated Galilean ? No plain man of common sense, 
who could say, we heard of no " wonders, or signs, 
or mighty deeds?" No one who could account, in any 
ordinary way, for the possession of various languages? 
Peter's speech depended entirely on the coincidence 
of actual fact with his arguments: here was nothing 
refined, nothing far-fetched, nothing to perplex the 
understanding of reasonable men ; but his words came 
home to their consciences; and, instead of putting 
down the apostles with the hand of power as disturbers 
of a solemn assembly, they appeal to them as men and 
brethren, eagerly inquiring how they might expiate 
the guilt in which they had been concerned. Yet it 
does not appear to have been one of those simultane- 
ous impressions, which sometimes hurry away a mul- 
titude without reflection or in spite of reason. The 
historian does not say, that the conviction was unani- 
mous. " They that gladly received his word were 
baptized:" which implies that some resisted argu- 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



221 



rnents which proved effectual with the majority of that 
assembly. 

Shortly after, this scene was repeated on a similar 
occasion in Jerusalem.* Two of the apostles perform- 
ed a remarkable cure upon a cripple who was known 
in a regular station as beggar at the entrance of the 
temple. From the notoriety of the person, the mira- 
cle excited general astonishment. Again Peter ad- 
dressed the multitude, in the same terms as at the feast 
of Pentecost. He declared the divine mission of 
Jesus: he asserted his resurrection: he affirmed that 
the miracle which they had just seen had been effect- 
ed through his power. He again appealed to the pro- 
phets whose authority they professed to acknowledge, 
and adduced new passages in proof;t and he again 
concluded with inviting them to hear the call of God, 
first offered to their nation, and to embrace the faith 
which would avert the punishment of their iniquities. 

Here, as before, the apostle's words persuaded many 
of the hearers, who united themselves to the infant 
church. 

But by this time the doctrine of the divinity of 
Jesus, and of the resurrection from the dead, had ex- 
cited jealousy. If it was true, the chiefs of the state, 
who had procured his condemnation, were most deep- 
ly involved in guilt. Therefore the discourses of the 
apostles were interrupted by authority: they were 
themselves imprisoned j and on the following day strict , 



* Acts, Hi. f Ibid. iii. 26. 

T 2 



222 



FIRST PROMULGATION 



inquiry was made of them in full council, " by what 
power or in what name they had done this" miracle. 
The apostles persevered in their declaration ; affirmed 
that the cure which had occasioned such general sur- 
prise, had been performed through the power of Jesus 
Christ of Nazareth, whom the rulers had crucified, and 
God had raised from the dead and that it behoved 
them all to acknowledge him, as they valued the sal- 
vation of their souls.* 

Nothing can be more curious than the scene here 
delineated. On one part, the men in power, accustom- 
ed to obedience, and the interpreters of the Mosaic 
law, whose authority had been paramount; now con- 
fronted by men of a despised district, silenced by 
quotations from their own Scriptures, and authorita- 
tively taught what was essential to their salvation* 
We can readily comprehend their first impulse, to 
set down with a high hand these unknown and unedu- 
cated men: an impulse, however, which was restrain- 
ed for a while by the presence of the man who had 
received the cure, which created a strong popular 
sensation : so that they could only venture, at this 
time, to stifle the business if possible, and forbid the 
new teachers to persist further in the doctrine which 
they were maintaining. 

In defiance of this command, the Apostles declared 
that they had a divine commission to promulgate these 
truths, and must continue to do so. And as the oeca- 



* Aets, iv„ 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



223 



sion did not allow of more open hostility, they were 
dispersed for the present with threats. 

This warning, however, gave the Apostles good op- 
portunity for deliberation as to the nature of their un- 
dertaking. They now saw that their course was not 
a safe one; that they must look forward to opposition 
and punishment. There was still time to recede, if 
they chose to remain silent ; but if they resolved to 
persevere, it could only be in defiance of authority, 
and in the te*eth of danger. And what was their con- 
duct? A solemn committal of their cause to God, 
whose agents they professed to be; and a devout en- 
treaty that he would inspire them with holy courage, 
and support them with his power. "And now, Lord, 
behold their threatenings ; and grant unto thy servants 
that with all boldness they may speak thy word, by 
stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and 
wonders may begone by the name of thy holy child 
Jesus."* 

It is not necessary to detail particularly the further 
progress of the Apostles. Opposition grew more vio- 
lent, and the consequences oftjieir undertaking were 
sufficiently seen. They nevertheless continued to 
teach the Gospel both publicly and privately ; and 
the number of converts was so greatly multiplied with- 
in a few months, that it became necessary to appoint 
officers for the management of their temporal concerns. 

At length persecution in Jerusalem drove the con r 



* Acts, iv. 29 



224 



FIRST PROMULGATION" 



verts into the various cities of Asia, to which they 
conveyed their new faith : confining themselves at 
first to their own countrymen; but afterwards induced 
by the hostility with which they were opposed, to ad- 
dress Jews and Gentiles indiscriminately. 

And this change of plan supplies incidental occasion 
for a remarkable feature of internal evidence in the 
different tone of address which is used by the same 
persons, now described as appealing to heathen na- 
tions. We possess two circumstantial records of their 
first discourse to such assemblies, which bear the 
strongest marks of the qualities most important to 
their credit, honesty, and common sense. Those who 
had fabricated a history, would be likely to tell it 
always in the same tone. The language of the Apos- 
tles varied with their circumstances. To the Jews, 
as we. saw, they appealed to things acknowledged by 
themselves and their countrymen in*common, and la- 
boured mainly to establish the point, that the crucified 
Jesus was the expected Messiah. But between the 
heathen and themselves there were no books to which 
they could refer as to the Jewish Scriptures, held in 
mutual reverence; and before they proceeded to the 
more immediate object, the divinity of Jesus, it was 
necessary to lay down as a foundation the existence and 
the unity of God, and his concern with the actions of 
mankind. So at Lystra,* where a miraculous cure 
had drawn the attention of the multitudes, and induced 



* Acts, xiv. 8, &c. 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



225 



them to offer such honours to Paul and Barnabas as 
they had been used to pay to the deities of their poly- 
theism ; the Apostles seize on this as the groundwork 
of their address, and say, we claim no such adoration; 
; < we also are men of like passions with you; and 
preach unto you that ye should turn from these vani- 
ties, unto the living God, which made heaven and 
earth and all things that are therein; Who in times 
past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways. 
Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in 
that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven and 
fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and glad- 
ness." 

If we treat the Apostles as impostors, we must ac- 
count for this honesty and moderation ; if as enthusi- 
asts, for their prudent forbearance. 

The behaviour of Paul at Athens is no less charac- 
teristic. He is said to have gone thither without 
any previous purpose of seeking proselytes ; but as ha 
was waiting for two companions whom he had appoint- 
ed to join him there, " his spirit was stirred up with- 
in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idola- 
try."* I may seem to assume the fact of his sincerity 
and earnestness; but surely this is a most accurate 
description of the feeling of a man conscious that he 
was in possession of an important truth, which all 
around him were in want of; and too anxious for the 
welfare of his fellow-creatures to pass by any oppoftu- 



* Acts, xiii. 16, &e, 



226 



FIRST PROMULGATION. 



nity- of enlightening them. " Therefore disputed he 
in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout 
persons, and in the market daily with them that met 
with him.' 7 "Then certain of the philosophers of 
the Epicureans and of the Stoics encountered him. 
And some said, What will this babbler say ? Other 
some, Heseemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods; 
because he preached unto them Jesus and the resur- 
rection. And they took him, and brought him to Are- 
opagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine 
is, whereof thou speakest ? For thou bringest certain 
strange things to our ears." 

There could not be a more exact picture of the Athe- 
nian agora and its frequenters, accustomed to perpetual 
discussions and agitating endless questions, with an 
utter indifference as to their truth and falsehood. Some 
entirely rejecting what they heard, "what will this 
babbler say ?" Others struck with something imper- 
fectly comprehended, and thinking it of sufficient con- 
sequence to be referred to the council of Areopagus. 

We are next presented with the address of Paul to 
this assembly, opening with an ingenious allusion to 
the altar inscribed, " To the unknown God and un- 
dertaking to set forth the Creator, who was at present 
strange to them, though convinced by their reason of 
the existence of some Supreme Being. 

The condemnation of idolatry, and declaration of 
the truth which follows, is delivered in a tone of au- 
thority arising from the speaker's own confidence, 
which is beautifully blended with the compassion 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



227 



which he feels towards the ignorant and erring objects 
of his address. He speaks in that decisive strain of 
conscious superiority, which a Christian of the present 
day would adopt towards a tribe of Indians or Chinese. 
Yet who was the speaker ? A stranger from an obscure 
province of Syria. Where was he speaking ? In Athens, 
the instructress of the world. Whom was he address- 
ing? The philosophers of highest repute in their age, 
to whom the wisest of other countries came for illu- 
mination. 

Ije does not, however, launch at once into the mys- 
teries of the faith which he professed. His mind is 
not so enthusiastically filled with the message of sal- 
vation which it was his office to convey, as to overlook 
the wisest method of imparting it. His object is, to 
prepare them to meet a future judgment : therefore he 
directs his blow, towards their consciences and their 
fears. " The times of former ignorance God winked 
at; but now commands all men every where to repent; 
because he has appointed a day in which he will judge 
the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath 
ordained : whereof he hath given assurance unto all^ 
in that he hath raised him again from the dead."* 

The effect of this novel declaration was the very 
effect to be anticipated from all that we know of hu- 
man nature, and of that particular audience. When 
they found that his doctrine involved the question of 
the resurrection of the dead, a part ridiculed the idea : 



Acts, xvii. 30, 



228 



FIRST PROMULGATION 



a part postponed the consideration of it; while some 
adhered to him, and "believed." 

He must have unusual confidence in the inventive 
powers of the early Christians, who can look upon 
these narratives, and the many others which are con- 
tained in the " Acts of the Apostles," as a mere fabri- 
cation : remembering, at the same time, the age to 
which the book indisputably belongs, and the persons 
by whom it must have been composed. When we 
consider the immense quantity of matter and the great 
variety of facts contained in it: the minute circum- 
stances detailed: when we compare the speeches of 
Peter with those of Paul ; and those of Paul to the 
Ephesians with those which he addressed to an un- 
converted audience : when we examine the conduct 
attributed to the Jews* their open persecution at Jeru- 
salem, and their indirect accusation at Thessalonica • 
the ingenuity with which the adversaries of the apos- 
tles addressed themselves to the passions and interests 
of men in the different cities : the characters of Gallio, 
of Felix, of Lysfas, of Agrippa : it seems impossible 
to suppose this an invented narrative of things which 
never took place, or of persons who never had a real 
existence. This argument, indeed, can have no weight 
with a person who is not sensible of the air of truth 
and reality which pervades the whole history. But 
whoever is alive to this, whoever does perceive in 
almost every page the marks of a writer detailing the 
account of actual transactions and circumstances, should 
observe that the proof which arises from evidence of 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



£29 



this kind, is not to be deemed far-fetched or ima°:i- 
nary, because it is incapable of being drawn out in 
words, or of being presented to the mind of the sceptic 
in any other way than by sending him to the books 
themselves.* 

To return, however, to the history. It is a point of 
some importance, that on the supposition of the facts 
being true, which form the basis of Christianity, every 
thing might have been expected to happen, which the 
history records as having actually taken place. Mira- 
culous interference was to be expected, which might 
effect the sure, but gradual, establishment of the reli- 
gion. It was also to be expected, that it should be 
partially, and not universally received. 

I. Whatever difficulties the moral state of the world 
presents at all times, no one who considers what that 
state was at the period in question can be surprised 
that God should devise a plan for its melioration. But 
supposing that he had devised such a plan, it is proba- 
ble also that he would authenticate it by such visible 
interpositions of his power as are said to have accom- 
panied the ministry of Jesus and his apostles. Because 
we cannot believe that without some co-operation of 
this kind, their preaching would have attracted the 
slightest attention, much less have effected what it did 
effect, the conversion of the civilized world. We talk 
with ease of the introduction of a religion. But if we 
set the case fairly before our minds, the obstacles will 



* &ee Paley's Ilorae Paulirice, conclusion, p. 359, 
U 



230 



FIRST PROMULGATION 



appear such as both justify and require the use of ex- 
traordinary means. However familiarly spoken of, it 
is not an occurrence of every day to change the reli- 
gion of mankind. 

No sufficient reason can be alleged, why that should 
not be practicable now, which is believed to have been 
found practicable eighteen hundred years ago. Sup- 
pose, then, a set of persons in this or any other coun- 
try to associate themselves together, and profess that 
they had a commission from God to model anew the 
civil and religious institutions of the land, and re-esta- 
blish the principles of the law of Moses. Suppose 
them to assert, in conformity with this pretension, 
that God required the nation to lay aside their present 
religious services, and to introduce in their stead, the 
Jewish ceremonial : to resort for the purpose of na- 
tional worship annually to the capital city, as the Is- 
raelites were accustomed to do; to abstain from cer- 
tain kinds of food; and to keep holy the original sab- 
bath, instead of the day of Jesus's resurrection. Or 
farther; that he commanded them to leave their fields 
unsown, and their orchards unpruned, every seventh 
year, and not to gather during that year even the 
spontaneous produce of the ground: to make no bar- 
gains of sale for their lands beyond fifty years, but 
that all estates purchased during the intermediate pe- 
riod should be resigned at the expiration of that term 
to the original owner. 

This would be, as Christianity was, a new religion ; 
and Christianity, from its Jewish converts, required a 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



231 



Fenunciation of prejudices, and from the Gentiles a. 
change of habits and customs, not less complete and 
violent. The doctrine of the resurrection of a person 
who had suffered on the cross, and of baptism in his 
name for remission of sins, was not more agreeable 
to their natural prepossessions than any thing in the 
case here imagined. Private interests were equally 
affected, when they that believed forsook their houses 
or lands or their nearest relatives " for the kingdom 
of God's sake," or sold their possessions and goods, 
and had all things common/'* 

It is useful sometimes to realize an idea. Let us 
suppose doctrines of this sort to be preached within 
our own knowledge. Every individual would feel 
that some or other of the provisions of such an inno- 
vation concerned himself. Argument, therefore, of 
every kind would be employed, from the clamour of 
the vulgar up to the reason of the well-informed. The 
most charitable opinion would set down such teachers 
as fanatics, who believed themselves the servants o 
God, but were really under the grossest delusion. But 
the more general opinion would condemn them as 
workers of mischief under the disguise of religion. 
No individual would listen to the improbable pretence, 
that they acted under a divine commission : they would 
be reckoned enthusiasts or impostors, who must either 
be silenced or punished. 

The Christian teachers, in delivering their message, 

* Luke xviii, 29. Acts, ii. 44 



232 



FIRST PROMULGATION 



added argument to assertion. With their countrymen, 
they appealed to their Scriptures; with the heathen, 
to their reason. And so arguments might he invented, 
in defence of the regulations just now supposed ; and 
reference might be made to the law of Moses, by which 
they were once established. But it would be waste 
of time to prove that argument, persuasion, and asser- 
tion would be equally unable to gain such innovators 
attention.* Those who believe the national religion 
to be from God, would condemn them : those who 
regard it not, would despise them. When Christianity 
was first preached, why should it have had better suc- 
cess either with the bigoted Jew or the careless Gen- 
tile? 

But while w T e maintain this, it were too much to 
assert, that there are no means by which they might 
establish a claim to be heard. Suppose them to con- 

* Unless, indeed, the argument might prove an accomplishment 
of prophecy, and, therefore, show a species of miracle. The 
force of the appeal made by Jesus and the apostles to the Jewish 
Scriptures, depended entirely on the accordance of those Scrip- 
tures with their mission. If it be urged, that their success was fa- 
voured by their reference to writings which the Jews acknow- 
ledged to be sacred, two important inferences follow s first, that 
the alleged prophecies were in previous existence; next, that they 
agreed with the circumstances under which " Jesus who was called 
Christ," actually appeared, and lived, and died. 

Luther, by appealing to the Scriptures, made a very successful 
innovation in religion. But suppose there had been no Scriptures 
of authority acknowledged to be paramount, or these had not borne 
him out in his appeal ; would he have been listened to for a mo^ 
ment ? 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



233 



fess that they depended on argument no farther than 
to explain their object ; that the.proofs of their mission 
were of a different nature ; that they did not expect to 
be believed on their own assertion, but appealed to 
proofs of supernatural assistance by which their mis- 
sion was authenticated. It is evident that this pretence 
would avail them, or not, exactly according to its 
agreement or disagreement with positive facts. We 
can easily conceive fanatic persons claiming credit for 
a power of working miracles, to whom no such power 
belonged; but we cannot conceive such persons being 
generally attended to and credited, unless their claim 
were supported by facts too plain to be denied. If no 
supernatural power accompanied them, the pretence 
to it would only sink them lower in public estimation ; 
instead of deluded enthusiasts, they would be treated 
as designing impostors; and the idea of their establish- 
ing a new religion on the ruins of the old would be- 
come more visionary than ever. In a very few days 
the attempt itself, and the party which had undertaken 
it, would be numbered among things forgotten. Give 
them rank; give them authority; give them educa- 
tion ; advantages which were entirely wanting to the 
teachers of Christianity ; still the barrier opposed by 
national belief, prescriptive customs, and personal ha- 
bits, is so strong, that it has never been overcome 
without some commensurate power, civil or military. 
And I have taken more pains than might appear ne- 
cessary, to show the difficulties encountered by the 
apostles; because if these difficulties were more justly 
u 2 



234 



FIRST PROMULGATION 



appreciated, the consequence proved by their success 
would be more generally admitted. I have supposed 
nothing greater than they attempted ; nothing greater 
than they achieved; and not in a single city, but 
over half the world; the same scheme which we at 
once declare to be impracticable as to our own age 
or country, was tried within the first century through- 
out the most civilized parts of the world then known, 
and succeeded : succeeded too by means which we 
are aware must now be ineffectual, unless they 
were supported as the apostles profess to have been 
supported; succeeded too in spite of opposition, not 
for want of it; for there is no proof that either Jews 
or heathens were less attached to the religion, the 
traditions, or the worship of their ancestors, than our- 
selves.* 

These are our grounds for believing, that if it were 
the purpose of God to establish a revelation like the 
Christian, he would see fit for a time to suspend or 
change the ordinary operation of his laws ; and that 
in the case before us he actually did so. 

Here, however, an adversary steps in, and affirms 
that this exercise of miraculous power is too impro- 

* The cases of successful imposture or enthusiasm which some- 
limes astonish us, are no exception to this argument. Such per- 
sons as Swedenborg and Southcote do not introduce anew religion, 
but stand forward as interpreters of a religion before established 
on very different grounds ; and because that is believed, they are 
listened to. If the religion were not already believed, these per- 
sons would gain no attention. The apostles raised Christianity 
sut of nothing, and against every thing. 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



235 



bable to be credited on any testimony. It is contrary 
to the nature of the Deity, and contrary to uniform 
experience ; and, therefore, cannot be believed. 

Whatever force may seem to be in this objection, a 
slight consideration will show that it carries us too 
far, and leads to consequences which even a Deist 
would hesitate to admit. 

The argument stands thus. The laws of nature are 
fixed and uniform, being established by the Creator as 
the most suitable for the world he has made. To sup- 
pose that he would alter what he has once established, 
is to suppose mutability in his counsels, or imperfec- 
tion in his laws. Therefore it is more probable that 
men should deceive or be deceived, than that he 
should have suffered that temporary change in the 
constitution of things which we call a miracle. 

The most satisfactory answer to any abstract argu- 
ment is that which can be drawn from matter of fact. 
In speaking of the Deity, more particularly, it is 
chiefly by considering what he has done, that we can 
safely decide what it may be consistent with his attri- 
butes to do. And with regard to the present question, 
it is certain, that if he created the world, he has al- 
ready seen fit to interfere with what was before es- 
tablished, and to alter the actual order of things. 

Where our world now exists, and the innumerable 
worlds which philosophy opens to our view, before 
they were created there must either have been vacant 
space, or matter in another form. That space, or that 
form of matter ; was then the order of nature. And a 



236 



FIRST PROMULGATION 



being of some other sphere might have argued with 
the same plausibility, that God could not, consistently 
with his attributes, alter the existing state of things, 
and create a world like ours. But that being would 
have been mistaken. He would have been refuted by 
the act of creation. We believe that God did inter- 
pose his power, and did create our world. Wherever 
we look around us, whenever we are conscious of our 
own existence, we have a proof of that very divine 
interference which is declared to be so improbable. 
Whether we go back six thousand years, or six thou- 
sand ages, or six thousand centuries, we must believe, 
if we are not altogether atheists, that this world, and 
all that it contains, once had no existence in its pre- 
sent form, and received its being and its properties 
contrary to the order of things previously existing. 

That then which God certainly saw fit to do for 
one purpose, he might see fit to do for another: for 
another, and not a less glorious purpose. For when 
we reflect on the difference which Christianity has al- 
ready wrought in the moral world, and the still greater 
difference which it is calculated to work, and proba- 
bly will effect in the progress of time, we cannot 
think it a less important exercise of power to have in- 
troduced the Gospel by suspending the laws of nature, 
than to have created the world by first establishing 
them. 

Unless, then, we banish from the universe the idea 
of God, and adopt some other principles to account 
for an existing world, than its creation by a first great 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



237 



Cause, we have no reason to believe it to be incompa- 
tible with the nature of God, to change the order of 
things. He did change that order, to make a rational 
and accountable creature; and he may have changed 
it, to reclaim and reform that creature, who had fallen 
through the wrong use of the powers bestowed on 
him. 

Again, any argument must be founded on fallacy, 
which, if received, would render it impossible for 
God to reveal his will to mankind. But if there is 
justice in the assertion, that no testimony can warrant 
our belief in miracles, it is evident that we leave to 
God no assignable method of issuing any revelation. 
In what other way could a messenger sent by him 
prove the authority of his mission ? As was shown 
just now, who would believe a messenger on his mere 
affirmation ? We naturally demand such an authenti- 
cation, as the question attributed to the Jews requires, 
" What sign showest thou?"* Men maybe constrain- 
ed to profess belief, and embrace a religion, as they 
were by the sword of Mohammed and his successors; 
but they cannot be persuaded and convinced, except 
by some evidence which appeals to their reason, and 
satisfies their understanding. 

It is further to be remarked, that before we decide 
so positively concerning the order of nature, the phe- 
nomena of the Jewish history must be taken into con- 
sideration. The wonders which are said to have at- 



* John, ii, 18. 



238 



TIRST PROMULGATION 



tested the mission of Jesus and his apostles, took place 
among a people, whose records contained repeated ac- 
counts of similar interference; and who were accus- 
tomed to consider such signs as part of a system which 
God had established in order to preserve in their na- 
tion a belief in the Creator, and a knowledge of his 
will. Either the whole Jewish history must be given 
up as false, which would only shift our difficulty, 
without removing it; or the Christian miracles form 
the last of a series of interpositions which God had 
constantly exercised with regard to that people. In 
this case they do not indicate the change, but the 
completion, of an uniform and regular scheme : a 
scheme which had been devised and kept in view 
from the beginning of things, and gradually brought 
to its accomplishment by the incarnation of Jesus: a 
plan which was shadowed out in a national law which 
had been observed for fourteen centuries; a plan which 
is intimated in the writings of numerous authors spread 
over the surface of that long period ; writings abound- 
ing with passages that received their first and only ex- 
planation in the character and history of Jesus. 

Therefore, to the employment of miracles, as a part 
of the divine government, the whole Jewish people 
bear witness. Not merely the people of one age, but 
of a series of ages. Miracles made them what they 
w r ere, an exception to the general state of the world, 
in religion, in laws, in customs, in morals. And ex- 
perience like this has a claim to be considered, when 
we talk of experience, and draw our conclusions. We 
are not at liberty to assert that miracles are contrary 



■3m *■ r 

OF CHRISTIANITY. 239 

to all experience, when the experience of a whole na- 
tion attests them, and when that attestation is confirm- 
ed by phenomena, which, except on the supposition of 
miracles, we have no means of explaining. 

The purport of the foregoing reflections is, not to 
prove the truth of the miracles related in the narra- 
tives of the apostles, which belongs to a different 
course of argument; but to dispose the mind to receive 
that external evidence which does confirm them ; and 
which establishes the divinity of Jesus from the mira- 
cles which he wrought, and enabled his followers to 
work. The idea, we see, must not be rejected as in- 
credible, that the apostles were endued with the fa- 
culty of speaking various languages for the purpose of 
communicating instruction, which otherwise could 
never have been imparted ; or that they were superna- 
turally enabled to conciliate attention and favour by 
acts of mercy and of power. On the contrary, it ap- 
pears probable, that if the religion were really divine, 
they would have been entrusted with such gifts. Be- 
cause without them, they w T ould in vain have at- 
tempted to withdraw the Jews from their ritual, or 
the heathen from their idolatry.* It savours of athe- 

* The difficulties which the first teachers of Christianity would 
have universally to encounter, are well set forth by Dr. Hey, b. i. 
ch. xviii. s. 6. " Nothing less than being- present at the different 
scenes which attended the propagation of Christianity, would give 
us a perfect conception of this interesting subject. We should see 
the magnificence of the heathen temples, the fine workmanship of 
the sUtu^s, the priests, the victims, superbly adorned, the atten- 
dant youths of both sexes, &c. &c. ; we should observe how every 



240 



FIRST PROMULGATION 



ism to exclude God from all concern with the world, 
of which he is acknowledged to be the Creator. True, 
we do not now experience his interposition. Neither 
do we perceive it in the direction of the natural world. 

part of religion was contrived to allure and captivate ; we should 
see how all men were attached to it, not only of the lower ranks, 
but the most improved and the best informed : for we, in our im- 
proved times, are apt to think Jupiter, Apollo, and Venus, so ab- 
surd as deities, that we have no idea or feeling' of the attachment 
of the heathens to their gods." What follows is too important to 
be omitted, though it rather belongs to the argument of the suc- 
ceeding chapter. " When we had got some idea of the heathen 
religion, we should go to a meeting of first Christians; plain, sim- 
ple, and incommodious; concealed, in some degree, under alarm 
from danger of persecution : one such meeting we should find at 
least in every century, till the end of the seventh : we should hear 
the heathen conversing about the Christians in private life, and de- 
liberating about them in councils of state ; we should attend the 
tribunals of heathen magistrates, and hear the early Christians ac- 
cused, defended, condemned : listen to the topics made use of in 
accusing and defending : we should attend the convicts to the stake, 
or the cross ; see their mild fortitude, their heroic benevolence : 
or, first, we should attend them to prison, and see their fellow 
Christians crowding about them, giving up every sort of conveni- 
ence, in order to afford them relief and support in their confine- 
ment. We should enter into the domestic retirements of those 
families who were wholly converted, and see their amiable virtues, 
or their animated piety : or of those which were become Christians 
in part, and see the conflicts between religious and filial duty ; be- 
tween Christian devotion and fraternal affection. We should see 
the zealous labours of the clergy ; their minds inflamed with the 
greatness, the novelty, the danger of their situation : free from 
worldly views of gain, or rank, or power, wholly fixed upon hea- 
ven, and the means of attaining it 5. instructing, persuading, ex- 
horting, convincing." 



OF CHRISTIAN II 



241 



But he did interpose in the natural world, till lie had 
established such laws as were necessary to maintain 
its order. And so in respect of religion. He mani- 
fested himself openly till he had established a final re- 
velation of his will, and now leaves that revelation to 
work its effect upon the world without the further 
operation of his visible power. 

II. One objection, however, to the Christian mira- 
cles still remains to be noticed ; the inflexible obsti- 
nacy of the ruling party among the Jews, and, indeed, 
of the great mass of the nation. Who could withhold 
assent, when the most astonishing miracles were ex- 
hibited before their eyes? 

In reply to this, we should observe, that it is an 
error to set the Christians against the Jews, and the 
Jews against the Christians, as a body. The preaching 
of the apostles made the Jews a divided body; and the 
majority of the earliest Christians were, in fact, con- 
verted Jews. The conversion of one part removes 
the objection arising from the obduracy of the other. 
For what account can be given of that conversion, if 
the whole history is untrue? Whereas the unbelief of 
the greater number is sufficiently explained on the 
known principles of human nature. W r e need not go 
far for an exemplification. We look around and see 
a community calling itself Christian ; and though a few 
may confess their scepticism, the majority would in- 
dignantly repel the insinuation that they disbelieve 
the Gospel. Yet how few, how very few compara- 
tively, act in consistency with their profession, or 




242 FIRST PROMULGATION 

live conformably with the Christian faith? Not be- 
cause they are convinced that it does not deserve to 
be believed, but because it interferes with their plea- 
sures, or their habits, or their prejudices, and there- 
fore they pass it over with a notice too inconsiderable 
to be acted upon. On similar grounds it is easy to 
understand the conduct of the Jews. When we re- 
member the confession of personal guilt, which their 
acknowledgment of Jesus as the Messiah must have 
implied : the complete sacrifice of every thing in this 
world which it required: the prejudices to be re- 
nounced ; the passions to be overcome ; and further, 
when we add to this the obligations which it would 
have imposed upon them, the change of personal con- 
duct which it demanded, to which they had the same 
repugnance as all other men ; we shall perceive, I 
think, that national confession would have been an 
act of national repentance little to be expected from 
their character as a people, or from the nature of man- 
kind in general. 

Where there is a strong indisposition to believe, 
pretexts for not believing are readily discovered. The 
history of Jesus acquaints us, that the persons in au- 
thority among his countrymen withdrew their atten- 
tion from the miracles, on pretence of their being 
wrought through the agency of evil spirits. The 
prejudices of some rendered them unwilling to believe 
him the Messiah ; the habits of others disinclined 
them to listen to his doctrines; and this set them 
upon seeking for an explanation of the supernatural 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 243 

power, which they could not but acknowledge. They 
found one : which, however ridiculous it may appear 
to us, at least gives the opinion of that age and na- 
tion. This solution was as satisfactory to them as 
that of magic to those of the heathen, who paid suf- 
ficient attention to the Christian story to know what 
it contained. The early apologists themselves assure 
us, that this consideration prevented them from alleg- 
ing the miracles of Jesus as their strongest argument:* 
they laid far greater stress upon the prophecies; and 
their choice in this matter, however unwise it may 
appear to us, seems justified by the ease with which 
Celsus thinks that he has disposed of all difficulty, 
when he has attributed the Christian miracles to a 
skilful use of magie.t People are easily satisfied when 
they are willing to' be deceived: and a vague refer- 
ence to such an explanation, though quite as insuffi- 
cient to an honest inquirer then, as the plea of witch- 
craft to an- enlightened philosopher now, might be 
enough to divert attention, and resist the first weak 
impressions of conscientious conviction. Particularly 
when such a powerful array of immediate interests 
opposed the strength of evidence, and fortified the 
prejudices naturally entertained by the votaries and 
priests of an expiring religion.^: 

* Justin Mart. Apol. i. ch. xxxvn. 

f See, on this subject, Watson's Letters to Gibbon, page 147, &c» 
i Much more might be said upon these points; but the question 
has been so fully and so ably treated* both by Paley and Chalmers, 
that no reader, I imagine, can require further satisfaction than he 




244 FIRST PROMULGATION 

The case of Paul illustrates these remarks. With- 
out assuming that he was convinced by a miracle im- 
mediately affecting himself, we may argue that he 
was convinced, and from an enemy became a zealous 
partisan; from a Jewish persecutor a Christian con- 
fessor. Long after his conversion he speaks indirectly 
of the state of mind under which he had acted ; which 
was no other than that foretold by Jesus, when men 
should go about to slay his disciples, and think that 
they were " doing God service."* He " did it ig- 
norantty, in unbelief;" that is, he was so blinded by 
prejudice that he could not discern the truth ; and 
though he was now too well instructed to think such 
prejudice innocent; he attributes it to this cause, that 
God had mercifully pardoned and enlightened him. 

We must not, at any rate, allow an objection to di- 
vert our minds from the undisputed fact, that a con- 
siderable body of the Jewish nation was persuaded to 
exchange the religion to which they had been attached 
with proverbial zeal, for a religion which opposed all 
their sentiments, disappointed all their expectations, 
and compromised all their exclusive privileges. Now, 
from our experience of the human mind, we can in 
some measure understand how a part of the nation 
might obstinately resist evidence which convinced the 
rest; but on no experience whatever can we under- 

may meet with in those writers, respecting either the neglect of 
the heathen philosophers, or the unbelief of the Jews. — See 
Paley, partiii. ch. iv.; Chalmers's Evid. ch. v. 
* 1 Tim. i. 13. 



OF CHRISTIANITY". 



245 



stand how a single individual should have been con- 
verted, without that very evidence to which their 
conversion is ascribed in the history. And this is 
what I set out with observing. In the account which 
we have received of the first propagation of Christi- 
anity, there is nothing inconsistent with what we 
know of the human heart, its prejudices, associations, 
and tendencies ; — supposing that the facts were true ; 
supposing that such a person as Jesus had been really 
foretold by a series of prophets; supposing that he 
had indeed risen from the dead ; and supposing that 
the miracles appealed to had been actually performed. 
On any other supposition the whole case becomes al- 
together inexplicable, and the progress of the religion 
a problem without parallel in the history of mankind. 



24# 



FIRST RECEPTION 



CHAPTER XI. 

First Reception of Christianity. 

It has been argued in the preceding chapter, that 
the history contained in the book of " the Acts of the 
Apostles" gives a probable account of the promulga- 
tion of Christianity. 

Such a report, without doubt, comes attended by 
suspicion. The report of those whose veracity is the 
very matter in question, cannot be received without 
scruple. But whether we receive their account or 
not, here is a tangible and acknowledged fact, of which 
some explanation must be given. There is an edifice 
existing before our eyes. We may disbelieve the 
current records of its foundation, but it must have had 
some builder; and there is no philosophy in refusing 
to admit the alleged history of its erection, unless we 
can supply another which is better authenticated or 
more probable. 

This edifice is Christianity. The witnesses to its 
foundation are the Christians, who, between seventeen 
and eighteen centuries ago, appeared in the world. If 
these did not become Christians through indisputable 
evidence of the divine origin of their religion, how 
did they become so ? What was the occasion of that 
extraordinary change., that moral revolution which 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



247 



took place, when the native of Asia, or Greece, or 
Italy, confessed himself a Christian? 

What the morals of the world were, at the period 
when Christianity was first preached, we know from 
unquestionable authority. We know that the only 
divine worship practised at all, was idolatrous worship; 
and that this idolatrous worship was commonly at- 
tended with profligacy of the most debasing kind, and 
often with heinous cruelty. We know that no restraint 
was laid upon the evil passions of our nature, except 
by public laws and public opinion. But public laws 
never did or can extend to many of the worst vices ; 
and public opinion, judging from experience, in order 
that it may become an efficient correction of vicious 
passions, requires a higher standard of reference than 
human nature ever supplied. I have no desire to dis- 
parage the characters of those who used to the best 
purpose the light which they possessed, and exalted 
the age in which they lived by noble exhibitions of 
temperance, probity, disinterestedness, or fortitude. 
Nor have I any wish to derogate from the honour of 
those philosophers who employed their reason to its 
noblest purpose; and, in some instances, endeavoured 
to raise their followers above the dominion of selfish 
appetite or worldly ambition. It is enough to know, 
as we do know, what the Asiatic, and Greek, and 
Roman world was, in spite of individual exceptions^ 
and in defiance of the exertions of philosophy. Wick- 
edness, indeed, will take the same course, and bear in 
many points the same aspect, in every age. But with 



Jtfc 

248 FIRST RECEPTION 

the heathen world, taken collectively, habits of life 
were allowed and uncensured, which we are accus- 
tomed to consider as proof that the restraints are 
thrown aside, by which the rest of the community is 
bound. Even their moralists appear as libertines, 
when tried by the standard of the Gospel.* Nor did 
the world give any signs of melioration, or progressive 
improvement. In all those points which form the real 
distinction between vice and virtue, Athens and La- 
cedsemon were no better than Sardis or Babylon ; and 
imperial Rome had no superiority over the Grecian 
democracies which it supplanted. Thales, Pythagoras, 
Solon, Socrates, Cicero, had effected no general 
change, either in the theory of religion or the practice 
of morals. 

On a sudden, in the midst of idolatry, or of utter 
carelessness as to all religion, and in the midst of 
selfish gratifications and sensual indulgences with 
which they were still on every side surrounded, there 
grew up in Italy, and in the principal cities of Greece 
and of Asia, parties of men, more or less numerous, 
who professed a way of life entirely new both in prac- 
tice and in principle. t Renouncing the idols and ima- 

* On this subject it is sufficient to refer to Leland's excellent 
work, on the Advantage of Revelation ; and to Macknight's Truth 
of the Gospel History. Porphyry (ap. Cyrill. contr. Julian, i. 6. p. 
186,) Cicero, Orat. pro Cxlio, c. 20; Epictet. Enchirid. c. 47; 
abundantly justify the'remark in the text. 

f Suetonius, the writers of the Augustan history, Lucian, Apu- 
leius, Athenseus, to say nothing of the Roman satirists, may acquaint 
us what the state of the world was, in which the purity of Christian 



Of CHRISTIANITY. 



249 



ginary deities which they had been educated to wor- 
ship, they acknowledged one Almighty Creator and 
Governor of the world, as revealed to them by his Son 
ft the man Christ Jesus." Removed alike from the 
ignorant thoughtlessness of the vulgar, and the scepti- 
cal hesitation of the philosophers, they believed in the 
immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the body, 
and a state of future retribution. Steadfastly relying on 
this expectation, they treated with indifference the 
honours and gratifications of the present life; and, for 
the sake of future reward, cultivated a character un- 
known before, and now that it became known, often 
despised, and seldom much esteemed : a character of 
which the conspicuous features are piety, humility, 
charity, purity, and moderation. 

And the persons who entered upon this new course 
of life, were not persons whose previous habits render- 
ed them more likely to embrace it than their neigh- 
bours, whose society they left. They are spoken of, 
nay, they are personally addressed, as having been 
brought from darkness to light, with respect to habits 
as well as principles. Paul, in his Epistle to the Co- 
rinthians, after enumerating some of the worst vices of 
our nature, and those to which we know from history 
that the Corinthians were particularly exposed, goes 
on to say, " Such were some of you; but ye are wash- 
ed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the 

morals had to make its way. And in the midst of die general cor- 
ruption, Alexandria, Antioch, Corinth, and the cities of Ionia and 
Asia Minor, were especially notorious, 



250 



FIRST RECEPTION 



name of our Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our 
God."* He says the same, in effect, to the converts 
from Colosse, Ephesus, and Rome ; and insinuates it 
universally : with the intent, we might suppose, of 
magnifying the extent of his conquests, if his object 
had not been evidently to exhort, and not to prove a 
point; and if we had not collateral evidence of the 
greatness of the change. So great a change, indeed, 
that it is commonly expressed by the strongest imagi- 
nable comparisons; and is represented as a new birth, 
a new creation. Neither will these figures be deemed 
overstrained by those who have a clear historical ac- 
quaintance with the state of that world out of which 
the first Christians were taken ; and those who have 
not such acquaintance, are necessarily without one of 
the most striking proofs of the divine origin of our 
religion.! The Mohammedan and the Christian are 
daily now, in common language, set in opposition to 
each other. Yet a Mohammedan and a Christian may 
be considered as brothers in opinion, compared with a 
Gentile before and after his conversion to the Gospel. 
The perplexities and inconsistencies of the best philo- 

* 1 Cor. vi. 11. 

f I should think no evidence more likely to prove convincing to 
a classical scholar than Justin Martyr's Apologies. Let him consider 
the date, about 110 years after the death of Christ: (indisputable, 
from the address to Antoninus Pius :) the history and native country 
of the author ; and let him compare the sentiments, morals, and 
principles which he finds there, with all he ever read of classical 
antiquity. 



OF CHRISTIANITY, 



351 



sophy ; the gross ignorance of the mass of mankind; 
the depraved habits of all ; form a contrast so remark- 
able to the clear views, the authoritative tone, and the 
purity of the Gospel, that we seem to have been sud- 
denly conveyed from an opposite hemisphere, and to 
emerge in a moment from darkness to light. 

It was shown formerly, that the doctrines and prin- 
ciples from which the Christian character derives its 
vigour, had no origin, as far as we know, in the opi- 
nions which prevailed before in the world among, the 
inhabitants of any country. But the evidence arising 
from the originality of the doctrines would be compa- 
ratively slight, if Christianity were a mere collection 
of speculative principles. Men, whose attention is 
mainly given to other concerns, may acquiesce in 
certain philosophical or theological opinions with an 
indifference which renders their profession a very in- 
adequate test of the truth or falsehood of those opi- 
nions. Henry the Fourth of France renounced the 
Protestant faith. But that renunciation, under all its 
circumstances, contributed nothing in favour of the 
religion which he adopted. Again, when the Protes- 
tant religion was finally established in England, and 
only two hundred of the Catholic priesthood, so bigot- 
ed under Mary, resigned their benefices for con- 
science' sake, we cannot allege this as any proof of the 
soundness of the Protestant cause.* Such abjuration 

* Burnet's Hist, of the Keformation, b. iv. Fuller's Churck 
History, b. ix. 



252 



FIRST RECEPTION 



or professions only show the indifference or want of 
principle of those concerned. 

But the case is very different with the first converts 
to Christianity. The principles which they embraced 
made an entire change in their habits of life. The 
doctrines which they professed were doctrines to be 
acted upon. And the strongest evidence, after all, 
that those doctrines deserve to be believed, is that 
they were acted upon: acted upon by numerous bo- 
dies of men in different countries: were received as 
ruling principles of life and conduct ; as principles of 
sufficient weight to overcome previous habits, and to 
superinduce contrary habits; to defy all opposition 
during life, and to be maintained triumphantly in 
death. For to preach the Gospel, as the Apostles 
preached it, was not to persuade a man who had main- 
tained the extinction of the soul at the dissolution of 
the body, to acquiesce in arguments for its immortali- 
ty; it was not to convince a disciple of Epicurus that 
the prospective contrivances and admirable adaptation 
of the several parts of the universe prove an intelligent 
contriver; — but it was to persuade those who had be- 
lieved themselves subject to no law except that of the 
state, to acknowledge a moral Governor; to submit to 
a code of unusual strictness and purity; to renounce 
sensual indulgences which they had been accustomed 
to consider innocent; to give up habits of life which 
had been familiar to them from their youth, and adopt 
a new course on principles entirely different. 

This would not be done by whole bodies of men, 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



253 



on a chance, or out of a rash love of novel doctrines. 
It was not the sort of " new thing" for which the so- 
phists of Athens were always on the watch. It is 
what we cannot imagine any persons to consent to do, 
without some overruling motive, or without the strict- 
est examination. 

The first converts of those who preached Christianity 
were taken from among their own countrymen. These 
they persuaded to renounce their dependence on the 
Jaw of Moses; to change the whole nature of their 
religious worship; to resign a pretension to the exclu- 
sive favour of the Deity, an inheritance bequeathed to 
them from their ancestors, which they had boasted of 
during fifteen hundred years; insomuch that those who 
had been proverbial for their enmity to all other na- 
tions, now set out on a pilgrimage to convert them. 

Here their success was still more extraordinary. 
The existence of such characters as Peter, or John, or 
Paul, appearing suddenly among their Jewish breth- 
ren, is a phenomenon which requires to be accounted 
for; but what will be thought of Jason or Dionysius 
m Greece,* of Philemon or Polycarp in Asia, of Cle- 
ment at Rome? Or still more, of the bodies of men 
aught and governed by these, and such as these j and 
to whom the Apostolic epistles were addressed ? 

Tiiis which follows, for example, is the account 
given by the Roman Clement of the society of Chris- 
jans which he had visited and seen at Corinth. 



* Ats, xvii. 5— 34. 
Y 



264 



FIRST RECEPTION 



u Who that has ever been among you has not ex- 
perienced the steadfastness of your faith, fruitful in all 
good works; and admired the temper and moderation 
of your religion in Christ? Ye were all of you hum- 
ble-minded, desiring rather to be subject than to govern., 
to give than to receive, being content with the portion 
God had dispensed to you ; and hearkening diligently 
to his w T ord, ye received it into your hearts, having 
his precepts always before your eyes. Thus a firm 
and blessed and profitable peace was given unto you; 
and an insatiable desire of doing good; and a plentiful 
effusion of the Holy Ghost was upon all of you. And 
being full of good desires, ye did with a great readi- 
ness, and with a religious confidence, stretch forth 
your hands to God Almighty; beseeching him to be 
merciful unto you, if in any thing ye had unwillingly 
sinned against him. Ye were sincere and without of- 
fence towards each other; not mindful of injuries; all 
sedition and schism was abomination to you. Ye 
bewailed every one his neighbour's sins, esteeming 
their defects your own. Ye were kind one to another 
without grudging; being ready to every good work. 
And being thus adorned with a conversation altogether 
virtuous and religious, ye did all things in the fear of 
God; whose commandments were written upon the 
tables of your hearts."* 

Now let it be considered, that about thirty years 
before, Paul had founded the church at Corinth, which 

* Clem. Ep. ad Corinth, i. s. 1. and 2. 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



js thus described.'* As a preliminary, the Corinthians 
were to be persuaded, that the deities which they and 
their ancestors had worshipped were no gods, but the 
fictions of poetry or dreams ' of ignorance. That 
there was one invisible Creator, who took cognizance 
of human actions, and would reward those who obey- 
ed, and punish those who disobeyed him, in another 
state of eternal existence. That they had individual- 
ly incurred his wrath and deserved his punishment; 
but that he had sent his Son into the world, in the 
human*form, to redeem from that punishment as many 
as trust in him, and receive the mysteries belonging 
to his incarnation. Further, that those who do trust 
in him, and profess his religion, must be a holy people; 
pure in heart, pure in practice, renouncing all disho- 
nesty, all impurity, all malice; devoting their lives to 
the service of God; and seeking his Holy Spirit by 
faith and prayer, that they may be enabled to effect 
this, and become such characters as Clement describes 
them. 

This is a slight sketch of the doctrines which Paul 
taught, and according to which the Corinthians are 
said by Clement to have directed their lives. Can 
any thing persuade us that these persons would have 
confessed what they were led to confess, or have re- 
nounced what this religion bound them to renounce, 
or have practised what they did practise, on Paul's 



* Clement's Epistle, A. D. about 80, Paul's first Epistle, about 



FIRST RECEPTION 



exhortation, unless he carried with him indisputable 
proofs of a divine commission? Would any common 
argument have induced men to model their lives anew 
after precepts such as these: " Lay not up for you*> 
selves treasures on earth; but in heaven : for where 
your treasure is, there will your heart be also." " Set 
your affection on things above, not on things of the 
earth." " Look not at the things which arc seen, 
but at the things which are not seen; for the things 
which are seen are temporal, but the things which are 
not seen are eternal." "Mortify therefore youf^mem- 
bers which are upon the earth." So-" when Christ 
who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear 
with him in glory/" 

Neither is it any contradiction to the force of 
this fact, that it was a principle with some of the an= 
cient philosophers to despise the honours and digni- 
ties of the world. There is a wide difference between 
Cynical or Stoic apathy, and Christian patience and 
self-denial. The motive characterizes and distin- 
guishes them. We need not be severe to mark 
those few, those very few, who were led by reflec- 
tion on the capabilities of their nature, or on the un- 
certainties of life and fortune, or by any consideration 
derived from their own reason, to despise the vanities 
around them, and look into their own minds for hap- 
piness. But they acted on a calculation of which this 
zoorld was the object and boundary. Contempt of the 
present world, arising from a confidence of future re- 
compense, is not to be found in a single passage of 



QF CHRISTIANITY. 



257 



heathen antiquity; much less is it the characteristic of 
a numerous party scattered over the remotest districts, 
and consisting in great measure of those classes of so- 
ciety which philosophy never deigned to look upon. 
The Stoic refused the good things of this world (if in- 
deed he ever did refuse them) because they might be 
taken from him, or because they ended in dissatisfac- 
tion, or because his taste led another way: but these 
men were indifferent towards temporal things on 
higher grounds : they had not leisure for them, and 
could serve God better without them : they had 
too much to effect in too short a time, to allow any 
unnecessary delays or deviations. Such had been 
Paul's injunction : " This I say, brethren, the time 
is short; it remaineth, that both they that have wives 
be as though they had none; and they that weep, as 
though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though 
they rejoiced not ; and they that buy, as though they 
purchased not; and they that use this world, as not 
abusing it; for the fashion of this world passeth 
away.' 7 * In the same spirit writes the Roman Cle- 
ment; " take heed, beloved, that God's many blessings 
be not our condemnation, unless we walk worthy of 
him, doing with one consent what is good and pleas- 
ing in his sight."t And the Asiatic Polycarp; "I 
exhort all of you that ye obey the word of righteous- 
ness, and exercise patience, which ye have seen dis- 
played before your eyes, not only in the blessed Ig- 



* 1 Cor. vii. 30. f Epist. i. s. 21. 

v 2 



258 



FIRST RECEPTION 



natius, and Zosimus, and Rufus, but in others that, 
have been among you ; and in Paul himself, and the 
rest of the Apostles. Being confident of this, that all 
these have not run in vain, but in faith and righteous- 
ness; and are gone to the place which was due to 
them from the Lord : with whom also they suffered. 
For they loved not this present world, but him who 
died, and was raised again by God for us."* 

Justin Martyr did not hesitate publicly to assert 
this as the character of the party to which he belong- 
ed. " Being inflamed," he says, " with the desire of 
a pure and an eternal life, we aspire after -an intimate 
converse with God, the great Father and Creator of 
the world ; and are eager to seal our confession with 
our blood ; being certainly persuaded that they shall 
attain this state, who, by their conduct, study to ap- 
prove themselves to God, as seeking him, and earn- 
estly desiring communion with him In that life, where 
no malice or wickedness shall exist.t 

In another passage, occurring in a private letter, he 
compares Christians, dwelling in this world, to the 
soul dwelling in the body : reasoning, that, " as the 
soul* lives in the body, but is not of the body, so 
Christians dwell in the world; but are not of the 
world ; an immortal spirit dwells in a mortal taberna- 
cle ; and Christians, while they sojourn in these cor- 
ruptible mansions, expect and look forward to an iri- 
corruptible estate in heaven."^ Indeed, the same ait- 

* Polyc. Epist. s. ix. j Just, Mart. Apol. 1. s. & 

$ Ep. ad Diognet. 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



259 



fchor repeats it as one of the reproaches urged against 
them, that, " having, from a vain belief, chosen Christ 
to be their Master, they, for his sake, undervalued 
and threw away all the enjoyments and advantages of 
this world."* And it was currently assigned as one 
reason why the Christians were trained up to despise 
the pleasures and amusements of this life, u that they 
might be more willing to die; that the cords being 
severed by which they were fastened to this world, 
they might be more active and ready for their depar- 
ture out of it."t 

No one will deny r that before the mind can be 
brought to such a state as this* it must be strongly 
biassed from its natural inclination. The force must 
have been extraordinary, which could in so great a 
degree counteract the power of immediate impressions. 

Unquestionably, the prospect of eternal happiness is 
calculated to raise and animate the best hopes of hu- 
man nature; and being confidently entertained, is more 
than equal to the effects above described. But when a 
present sacrifice is demanded, and definite qualifica- 
tions are to be laboriously acquired, the prospect must 
be unexceptionably assured before things seen and 
temporal are resigned for things unseen and eternal. £ 

* Just. Dial, cum Tryphone. f Tertull. de Spect. c. 1. 

* The misrepresentations of Gibbon put this out of sight, and 
would seem to imply that no sacrifice was required. " When the 
promise of eternal happiness was proposed to mankind, on condi- 
tion of adopting the faith and of observing the precepts of the 
Gospel, it is no wonder that so advantageous an offer should have 



260 



FIRST RECEPTION 



Let a stranger come with the offer of a noble estate y 
to revert to us after a certain period. We have no 
hesitation in closing with so generous an offer. But 
when we proceed to learn that this estate is in a dis- 
tant country; and when he annexes as a condition of 
our enjoying it, that we acquire the language of that 
country, and the manner of its inhabitants, and devote 
our whole attention during the intermediate term to 
what may fit us for living in this foreign land; the 
case is widely altered ; we begin to inquire, is it cer- 
tain that there is such a country ? has this stranger 
unlimited power in it; are his offers to be trusted 
without scruple? AnTl even if all this were proved 
to our entire satisfaction, how seldom would the 
present sacrifice be submitted to„ as it was by the 
primitive Christians? For certainly those who first 
embraced the religion of Jesus, had no notion of a 
gratuitous offer of eternal happiness. They had no 
doubt but the promises were annexed to certain quali- 
fications; for they devoted their hearts and lives to 
the cultivation of virtues, which, if not necessary to 
the purpose for which they were avowedly pursued, 
were of little value in this world to their possessors. 
As Clement represents the Corinthians : " Ye were 
all of you humble-minded ; desiring rather to be sub- 
ject than to govern ; to give than to receive."* An- 
other thus describes his fellow Christians: " Amongst 

been accepted by great numbers of every religion, of every rank, 
of every province." 
* Ep. i. s. ii. 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



us th#re is no affectation of vain glory; but separating 
ourselves from all common and earthly thoughts and 
discourses, and having surrendered ourselves to be 
governed by the laws of God, we abandon whatever 
is any way connected with human fame."* When 
1 he female martyr, Agatha, was upbraided, because, 
being descended . of an illustrious parenta^ she stooped 
to mean and humble offices: "Our nobility she re- 
plied, " lies in this, that we are the servants of Christ." 
Not to dwell on individual instances, the great body 
of primitive Christians carried their moderation of ap- 
petites so far, as to protest against the common use of 
wine; as to condemn all second marriages as little 
better than adultery: as often to refuse marriage alto- 
gether; as to inflict severe censures upon all who 
yielded to sinful temptation ; as to proscribe theatres 
and shows, and to avoid, if possible, any mixed assem- 
blies; so that a Christian might be known, in private, 
by his fastings; in public, by his temperance; and 
universally, by simplicity and plainness of dress, and 
by a subdued and humble countenance and deport- 
ment.! We may be of opinion that they carried this 
austerity too far; that is not now the question: I only 
argue, that they did not assume to themselves the offer 
of salvation as gratuitous or unconditional ; and that 
they would not have sought it on such conditions as 
these without sure conviction that the offer was well 

* Tatian contr. Gra. p. 167. 
f See Cave's Primitive Christianity, p. 2, passim. 



262 



FIRST RECEPTION 



guaranteed. For it must be observed, thatl have nofrhecn 
exhibiting their rules, but their practice. Rules may be 
very strict, while practice is very lax ; but I have been 
citing description, not exhortation; description of those 
who dreaded all temptation to evil from a sense of its 
danger, and avoided all appearance of evil from a con- 
sciousness °^jjf ie strong engagements by which they 
were bound, k was a known fact, that they reckoned 
themselves obliged, by the vows which they had un- 
dertaken at their baptism, to abstain from public shows 
and theatrical exhibitions: it was a part of their disci- 
pline not to admit a stage-player to communion ; and 
as for the accusations of their enemies, the worst that 
Pliny, after a solemn and not very friendly inquiry, 
could discover against them, was, that they were ac- 
customed on a stated day to meet before the dawn, 
and to repeat among themselves a hymn to Christ as a 
God, and to bind themselves by an oath to abstain 
from all wickedness; to be guilty of no thefts, rob- 
beries, or adulteries; to violate no promise and deny 
no pledge.* Near a century afterwards Tertullian 
could openly assert, that very few Christians had suf- 
fered by the hand of the executioner, except on ac- 
count of their religion. 

Let us take their character as portrayed by the hand 
of an author who had studied it well, yet with no pre- 
possession in its favour. " Their serious and seques- 
tered life," he says, " averse to the gay luxury of the 



* Epist. lib, x. xcvii. 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



.263 



age, inured them to chastity, temperance, econom} r , 
and all the sober and domestic virtues. As the greater 
number were of some trade or profession, it was in- 
cumbent on them, by the strictest integrity and the 
fairest dealing, to remove the suspicions which the 
profane are too apt to conceive against the appearances 
of sanctity. The contempt of the world exercised 
them in habits of humility, meekness, and patience. 
Even their faults, or rather errors, were derived from 
an excess of virtue. Ambitious to exalt the perfection 
of the Gospel above the wisdom of philosophy, the 
zealous fathers carried the duties of self-mortification, 
of purity, and of patience, to a height which it is 
scarcely possible to attain, and much less to preserve, 
in our present state of weakness and corruption. They 
despised all knowledge that was not useful to salva- 
tion, and considered all levity of discourse as a crimi- 
nal abuse of the gift of speech. The candidate for 
heaven was instructed not only to resist the grosser 
allurements of taste or smell, but even to shut his ears 
against the profane harmony of sounds, and to view 
with indifference the most finished productions of hu- 
man art; gay apparel, magnificent houses, and elegant 
furniture, were supposed to unite the double guilt of 
pride and sensuality. A simple and mortified appear- 
ance was more suitable to the Christian, who was cer- 
tain of his sins, and doubtful of his salvation."* 
This is the description of persons separated from 



* Gibbon, ch. xv. 



264 



FIRST RECEPTION 



the rest of the world by a decided line; and they must 
have been well satisfied of the grounds on which they 
were acting before they consented to a separation of a 
nature so uninviting. Neither can their strictness be 
explained away, as the natural result of their separa- 
tion. Allow it to be true, that any particular society 
having departed from the great body of the nation, or 
the religion to which it belonged, immediately be- 
comes the object of universal as well as invidious ob- 
servation: allow it to be true, that this feeling, to- 
gether with the desire of gaining proselytes, engaged 
every member of this new community to watch with 
the most vigilant attention over his own behaviour, 
and that of his brethren : the problem is, not the aus- 
terity, but the formation of this small society. They 
first became a sect, and then practised austerity. An 
anxious wish to increase their number must be felt by 
all true Christians equally, because they desire to ex- 
tend as widely as possible those privileges of which 
they personally feel the value. But it is extraordinary 
that those of whom we are speaking took measures 
with regard to the admission of members which would 
seem likely to deter proselytes, rather than allure 
them. The candidates for baptism underwent a long 
and strict probation, under the title of catechumens. 
It was not enough to profess themselves convinced of 
the truth of the Christian doctrine; they were re- 
quired to pledge themselves to live according to its 
precepts; they were directed to perform a solemn ex- 
ercise of prayer and fasting for the forgiveness of past 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



265 



sins; and their lives and behaviour, during the time 
that they had been subject to Christian instruction, were 
closely inquired into.* Before the ceremony was per- 
formed, they publicly renounced sin, and all the 
pomps and pleasures of the world. This was the con- 
duct of men who were in earnest as to the value of 
what they professed, but not of men who wanted pro- 
selytes for the sake of a party. In fact, they abso- 
lutely refused baptism, not only to the members of 
scandalous vocations, but to those who were exposed 
by their callings to visible danger of temptation.t And 
further, they excluded from their society, and from the 
pale of the church, those who were guilty of any known 
offence against the Christian law; and thus rendered 
the conditions of remaining within the church no less 
strict, than those of admission into it. 

The consequence was, that the Christians, when 
accused by their enemies, could confidently appeal to 
their lives as proofs of the excellence of their doc- 
trine : could affirm that their societies, when com- 
pared With those around them, shone like lights in 
the world : could point to their converts, and contrast 
what they once were, with what they had become. £ 

" Inquire," says Origen, " into the lives of some 
amongst us; compare our former and our present 
course of life, and you will find in what impieties and 

* Justin Martyr, Apol. i. p. 70. — Origen, contr. Cels. 1. iii. p. 50. 
— Ambr, de Sacram. 1. i. c. 2. 
f See Apostol. Constit. 1. viii. c. 32, Stc. Bingham's Antigu. xi. 5, 
+ Origen contr. Cels. I. iii. 128. 



266 



FIRST RECEPTION 



impurities men were involved before they embraced 
our doctrines. But since they embraced them, how 
just, grave, moderate, and resolute are they become ! 
Nay, some are so inflamed with the love of purity and 
holiness, as to abstain even from legitimate gratifica- 
tions. The church abounds with such men, wherever 
the doctrines of Christianity are received."* 

" Give me," says Lactantius, " a man that is angry, 
furious, and passionate ; and with a few words from 
God, I will render him as meek and quiet as a lamb: 
give me one that has lived in vice and sensuality, and 
you shall see him sober, chaste, and temperate. So 
great," he adds, " is the power of divine wisdom, that 
being infused into the breast it will soon expel that 
folly which is the parent of all vice and wickedness."! 
I will conclude with the earlier description of Justin 
Martyr. " We," he says, " who formerly valued our 
estates and possessions above all things else, now put 
them into a common stock, and distribute to those 
that are in need. We, who formerly delighted in 
adultery, now observe the strictest chastity. We, who 
practised magical charms, now devote ourselves to the 
true God. We, who once hated each other, and de- 
lighted in mutual quarrel and bloodshed, and accord- 
ing to custom refused to sit at the same fire with those 
who were not of our own tribe and parly; now since 
the appearance of Christ in the world live familiarly 
with them, pray for our enemies, and endeavour to 



* flrigen contr. Cels. 1. 1 f Lib. Hi. de Falsa Sapient, c. 26. 



OF CHRISTIANITY.^. ~07 

persuade those that hate us without a cause to direct 
their lfves according to the excellent precepts of Christ ; 
and so they may have reasonable hope to obtain a share 
in our rewards from the great Lord and Judge of all 
things."* 

Such is the description of those who first appeared 
as Christians. And are we not bound in some way or 
other to account for their appearance? Is it so natural 
for man to lay aside former habits of vice, and assume 
the opposite habits of virtue ? Is it common to give up 
old companions; to resign amusements which we have 
been taught to value, and gratifications which we have 
been accustomed to indulge ? To join a new party, a 
proscribed, unfashionable party? 

This is a question which every one may answer 
from his own experience. True communion with the 
church is the same in all ages. Whoever embraces 
the Gospel with any hope of profiting by its profes- 
sion, must live in all essentials as these first converts 
lived, and become what they were. If the reader of 
these pages is so living, he will probably acknowledge 
that nothing induced him to enter on such a course of 
life, except a most decided conviction of its necessity, 
and of the danger of living otherwise. If he has nei- 
ther the faith nor the habits of these primitive con- 
verts, he is equally well able to judge of the resist- 
ance opposed by human nature to a change like that 
which has been described. He can answer, whether a 



Apol. ii, p, 61 



268 



FIRST RECEPTION 



slight argument, or any except the most irresistible 
testimony, can induce him to confess the Christian's 
faith, or conform to the strictness of scriptural Chris- 
tianity. And why should he assume that men were 
different seventeen or eighteen centuries ago, and 
ready to do that on insufficient evidence, which no 
evidence can persuade him to attempt ? What can we 
argue from with more certaint}^, than the acknow- 
ledged and visible character of human nature ? 

It would be good, if all those who may demur with 
regard to the difficulty of changing the moral habits 
of a community, or of forming a sect which should 
walk " by faith and not by sight," and prefer things 
eternal to things temporal, would try the experiment, 
and see how much it costs to convert an individual. 
There are few who have not among their acquaintance 
some who are living in habits inconsistent with the 
Gospel, and which must exclude them, if persevered 
in, from the hopes of the Gospel. Let them try to 
reclaim these acquaintances, by setting before them 
the threatenings and the promises of God, the offer of 
mercy, brought by his Son Jesus, and all those truths 
which had such powerful effects in Greece and Asia. 
We would not say that they may not prevail : it is an 
attempt which is constantly making, and not unfre- 
quently successful ; but this we may safely affirm, that 
those who try it, will not pretend that they have had 
an easy conquest ; and that those who are persuaded, 
will allow that no trifling victory has been gained 
over them. And this in a country where Christianity 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



269 



is supported by all the external advantages which 
long establishment, national profession, zealous and 
learned ministers, and multitudes of sincere believers, 
can supply. 

And if such are the difficulties in the midst of such 
advantages, for the strength of which I appeal to 
every man's own heart; what chance of success would 
Paul have had, humanly speaking, in Corinth, or 
Ephesus, or Rome, or any heathen city? From Judea 
— his country, hardly known — if known, proverbially 
despised: denouncing idols in the centre of idolatry: 
proscribing the pleasures of this world in the midst of 
wealth, and vanity, and luxury: preaching the care 
of the soul to those who denied its immortality: in- 
culcating the fear of God, to those who were ignorant 
of his existence ; or if they acknowledged a Supreme 
Being, denied his moral government. When would 
lie have made a single convert, if he had stood on no 
firmer basis than his own opinion, or his own asser- 
tion? 

Yet it was under these most unfavourable circum- 
stances that a body of men sprung up, and increased, 
and diffused themselves, professing such original and 
austere doctrines; it was in the midst of luxury, and 
thoughtlessness, and ignorance, and idolatry, and de- 
pravity, that a system of pure, and self-denying, and 
enlightened, and vigilant piety was planted, and root- 
ed, and flourished, and brought forth abundant fruit, 
and, spreading far and wide, received under its shel- 
ter a continually increasing multitude. " A pure and 
z 2 



^70 FIRST RECEPTION 

humble religion gently insinuated itself into the minds 
of men, grew up in silence and obscurity, derived new 
vigour from opposition, and finally erected the trium- 
phant banner of the Cross on the ruins of the Capitol. 
Still farther, after a revolution of thirteen or fourteen 
centuries, that religion is still professed by the nations 
of Europe; the most distinguished portion of human 
kind, in arts and learning as well as in arms."* Either 
this religion was the^invention of some obscure indi- 
viduals in that very country of the world which any 
one would select as the least likely of all countries to 
convert the rest, and was set up by means, the ineffi- 
cacy of which it is not possible to exaggerate; or it 
was truly a revelation, and prevailed by the force 
of truth, illustrated by divine power. Surely those 
must be strangely blind to the light of moral evi- 
dence; must have a very partial acquaintance with the 
human heart, with the strength of established habits, 
particularly of practical habits of vice; who can attri- 
bute the actual effects of the Gospel in overturning 
them, and introducing the most contrary habits, to 
any thing except the overpowering and indisputable 
proofs of a divine commission, which the Apostles 
carried with them. We find men, who had been 
brought up in total ignorance of any future state, des- 
pising earthly things, and setting their affections on 
things above. We find men who had hitherto ac- 
knowledged deities of human origin, and human pas- 



* Gibbon. 



9 

0F CHRISTIANITY. 



211 



sions, obeying an invisible Creator of infinite holiness 
and purity. We find men, in short, cultivating and 
rearing a moral and religious character, which but a 
few years before had absolutely no pattern in exist- 
ence; which they couid not have imagined, because 
it was beyond the range of their conceptions; which 
thev could not have imitated, because it was no where 
to be seen. 

So that this dilemma lies before us: either the first 
followers of Christianity were men of totally different 
feelings and dispositions from any men whom we have 
ever known, and especially from ourselves, whom we 
know best; or they had irresistible evidence of the 
truth of those facts which form the basis of the reli- 
gion. For that the Gospel, with the hopes and fears 
which it sets before us, and still more with the assist- 
ance it bestows, is able to effect this change, and cre- 
ate the character under consideration, is matter of un- 
doubted experience, But those on whom it first pro- 
duced this effect must have possessed undeniable evi- 
dence of its truth. It must have been proved to their 
satisfaction, (to the satisfaction of those, we should re- 
member, whom it was impossible to deceive, if they 
had the use of their senses,) that the facts on which it 
rests really happened, and that the Apostles were com- 
missioned to promulgate them to the world. Other- 
wise, it would have had no more influence upon them 
than it now has upon those who disown its authority; 
and indeed much less: for a religion, once received 
and generally professed, has a manifest effect even on 



212 FIRST RECEPTION 

those who disbelieve it : but Christianity had no ex- 
istence till converts from heathen idolatry and depra- 
vity exhibited it in their practice, and gave it a visi- 
ble and beautiful reality by substantiating it in their 
lives. So that the faith of these first Christians is of 
very different weight, in the scale of evidence, from 
that of any modern opinion. Whoever, in the pre- 
sent day, thinks and lives as a Christian, proves no 
more than that the historical testimony by which 
Christianity is confirmed, confirms it to his individual 
satisfaction. But though we now believe on histori- 
cal testimony? the first Christians did not; they be- 
lieved on ocular demonstration, or on the personal 
evidence of those who had seen the things which we 
receive on their report: they had opportunities and 
means of inquiry within their reach, which set them 
above the possibility of mistake. Their conviction is 
the conviction of persons who could hardly be de- 
ceived, even if the error had been of a nature most 
gratifying to their desires and feelings; but it is quite 
beyond suspicion, when we know that all their de- 
sires and feelings must have arisen in array against 
it, and inclined them to disbelieve. 

Especially when another obstacle, which has not 
yet been mentioned, opposed the reception of the Gos- 
pel. Those who embraced it, from the first hour of 
its announcement at Jerusalem to its final triumph 
over Paganism, were constantly subject to bitter per- 
secution: persecution, which did not come upon them 
unexpectedly, after they had committed themselves 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



273 



in the cause, and gone too far to recede with credit ; 
but was provided for in the first writings of the sect. 
They were forewarned of the consequences of their 
profession ; they expected to suffer, and they consent- 
ed to suffer. And though we may allow, that from 
the moment a man was convinced of the truth of 
Christianity, it became so all important, that he would 
be ready to encounter any opposition ; we can hardly 
deny that this opposition would ensure his hesitating, 
before he made either a rash or an insincere profession. 
Suppose a person, to whom the moral requisites of the 
Gospel presented nothing alarming. The fear of per- 
secution would make him pause. Another might ex- 
pect some present benefit in this new profession,* if 
nothing appeared in the opposite scale; but no tempo- 
ral advantage could recompense him for torture or 
death : so that the hypocrite was likewise excluded. 

Martyrs, indeed, have fallen in every cause. There- 
fore we do not reckon it decisive in favour of a cause, 
that it is able to adduce a martyrology on its side. But 
we have a proof that men are sincerely convinced, 
when they are ready to seal their sincerity w T ith their 
blood. In the present case, sincerity is nearly all 
we want; since what they attested was not matter of 
opinion, in which they were liable to error; but mat- 
ter of fact, in which they could hardly be mistaken. 

We are apt, I suspect, to undervalue the testimony 
of martyrs, from a vague notion of the dignity attend- 
ing them ; the dignity of perishing in a noble cause, 
applauded by innumerable partisans, and admired even 



274 



FIRST RECEPTION 



by enemies. But no false lustre of this kind could 
dazzle the_ early Christians. The persecution which 
they underwent, was of the most harassing and weari- 
some nature. It was the persecution of contempt, of 
reproach, of obloquy, alike undeserved, and unanswer- 
able. It subjected them abroad to the misery of con- 
stant insecurity ; and at home to the continual bitter- 
ness of domestic opposition, to the taunts of nearest 
relations, and the tears of beloved friends.* There is 
nothing alluring, in being daily held up to ridicule as 
an enemy to oneself, or to reproach as the author of 
injury to others. During a great portion of the three 
first centuries, if the Tiber overflowed its banks, or 
the Nile refused to overflow; if an eclipse, or an 
earthquake, or a dearth, or a pestilence occurred, the 
popular cry demanded vengeance on the Christians.! 

To bigotry and inhumanity of this kind we owe 
those valuable remains of Christian antiquity, the 
apologies for their faith, presented by different writers 
from time to time to the emperors, who had the uni- 
versal power to spare or to destroy. The terms in which 
they are couched, the humility of their demands, and 
the evils of which they complain, are sufficient proof 
of what the Christians endured.^ 

These, then, are the grounds upon which I argue 

* A lively description of this is given in Justin, Apol. ii. s. 2. &c. 

■f So Tertullian feelingly complains, Apol. s. 20. 

i I have treated the subject of persecution in this very general 
way, because I consider the argument arising from it as complete- 
ly exhausted in Paley's masterly work, 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



275 



that the reception of Christianity proves the divine 
authority by which it was introduced and supported. 
I see an undeniable change, of a nature which I know 
from experience is the most improbable of all changes : 
a change in principle, and a change in practice; a 
change in religious sentiments, which are commonly 
maintained most pertinaciously; a change in daily 
habits of life, which are relinquished most unwillingly. 
I find new habits and new principles assumed in spite 
of known hostility, and preserved in spite of rigorous 
persecution. I want a cause; a cause to account for 
this. I find an explanation in the miraculous testi- 
mony borne to the religion, and in nothing else. Al- 
lowing such miraculous testimony, the consequence 
follows of course; denying it, the effect must remain 
forever unexplained. 



276 



ON THE EFFECTS 



CHAPTER XII. 
On the Effects of Christianity. 

When the question concerns the probability of truth 
in a revelation, we are irresistibly led to take into the 
consideration its effects upon human happiness. Is it 
of such a nature as to improve the general condition 
of those to whom it is proposed ? To raise or to de- 
press the character of mankind ? A revelation might 
possibly be made on such evidence as could not be re- 
jected, which had no such beneficial tendency. But 
this at once strikes our reason as a case so improbable, 
that we feel it would require an unusual weight of 
positive testimony before a revelation could be accept- 
ed by us as divine, which did not bear witness to its 
origin by the excellence of its immediate effects. 

At the same time, in every question of this kind, 
the object of the revelation must be kept in view. It 
will make an essential difference, whether a revelation 
professes to be designed to place men at once in a per- 
fect state, or to lead them towards one. The Gospel 
no Where professes to place men at once in a perfect 
state. It professes to address those who are in an un- 
happy and guiltv condition, naturally frail, and morally 
corrupt : a condition requiring that God should send 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



277 



his Son into the world, that the world through him 
might be saved. To such a condition it offers a re- 
medy : not pretending to remove all the evils inci- 
dental to such a state; but promising, in behalf of 
those who put themselves under its guidance, to dimi- 
nish and alleviate them. 

Whoever refuses to bear this in mind, is incapable 
of forming a judgment respecting the operation of 
Christianity. A world exists, in which sin and sorrow 
are largely mixed up. To suppose that Christianity 
should take these altogether away, would be to sup- 
pose that it should create the world anew. It makes 
provision against them : it proposes a cure for them ; 
and we can reasonably look for nothing more. 

But there are other causes, independent of itself, of 
the partial benefits produced by Christianity. We have 
formerly seen, that the writers of the Gospel foresaw 
that its effects would always be inadequate to its in- 
herent powers, and fall short of its avowed design, on 
account of the unwillingness of mankind to receive the 
remedy offered them. And to this obduracy we must 
in great measure attribute the evils which disfigure the 
face of Christianity. The first Christians, in particular, 
were taught to expect tribulation. And this tribulation 
was to come upon them, because their brethren refus- 
ed to listen to the Gospel, and chose to persecute those 
who did. No small portion of the difficulties which 
have always beset Christians, arises from a similar 
cause: from the general discountenance which earnest 
piety and Christian circumspection meet with. The 
a a 



276 



ON THE EFFECTS 



dread of this keeps multitudes still at a distance from 
God ; and thus deprives them of the happiness result- 
ing from the conscious possession of his favour, which 
nothing short of' an entire devotion to his service can 
procure. And the feeling of this discouragement can- 
not but occasionally disturb the comfort of other more 
consistent believers. 

The remainder of corruption adhering to those who 
do cordially embrace Christianity, is another cause of 
the imperfect happiness it procures to them. They 
have received an impression, with a force which no- 
thing but the Christian religion could have employed, 
of the dreadful consequences of sin. They have de- 
clared war against it, and are striving for the mastery. 
But the enemy still makes head: is always restless; 
and will sometimes prevail. This cannot but occasion 
disquietude. A remedy is proposed to a diseased con- 
stitution ; is accepted, and tried. But from the nature 
of the constitution, and inveteracy of the disease, the 
effect of the remedy is incomplete. Still the patient, 
if not in perfect health, is in a much better condition 
than he would have been without the remedy. And 
so none will deny that the man who is struggling 
against his evil passions, and keeping them in subjec- 
tion, is in a much better moral state than he would 
have been by giving loose to them : though he cannot 
enjoy that perfect tranquillity which might belong to 
a heart brought into complete conformity with the will 
of God. 

These are among the reasons why Christians are 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



279 



often distinguished by a seriousness of deportment, 
which is ill understood by those who are strangers to 
their feelings, and misinterpreted as melancholy and 
£-loom. Some persons are acutely sensible of that open 
ridicule, or even that silent contempt, with which re- 
ligion is too often treated in the world. Others are 
tremblingly alive to those remains of corruption which 
they daily discover in their hearts, and afraid to take 
home to themselves a comfort which they fear it would 
be presumptuous to indulge. What shall we say then? 
To escape the censure of the thoughtless and profane, 
must principles be lowered down to a standard which 
none shall think too lofty? This will hardly be pro- 
posed; for we know that to whatever depth we de- 
scend, a lower depth will still remain ; multitudes will 
still be found, for whom the meanest standard of reli- 
gion is too high. Or will it be argued, that because a 
nature originally sinful cannot be altogether purified, 
tberefore it should not be meddled with? That be- 
cause evil propensities cannot be entirely subdued, 
therefore they should not be opposed ? None will avow 
this; yet anxiety respecting the success of a contest 
against sin must be inseparable from such a contest; 
and those alone can be without anxiety, who never 
resist their passions, or endeavour to regulate their 
hearts. 

Let it be remembered, too, that most of the com- 
plaints concerning the melancholy tendency of reli- 
gion are made by those who have no just sense of 
religious obligations; and who adopt their opinion 



280 



ON THE EFFECTS 



from the demeanour of persons whom their own levity,, 
neglect of God, and indifference about vice and virtue, 
must naturally render serious. Could they enter into 
the minds of those persons, or see them in their fami- 
lies, in their daily occupations, or on their beds, they 
would quickly perceive that Christianity has a cheer- 
fulness and tranquillity belonging to it, to which irre- 
ligion is a total stranger. The Christian is encouraged 
by the writings which he maintains to be divine, to 
look for "all joy and peace in believing and the ex- 
pectation thus raised, is commonly and in most dispo- 
sitions fulfilled. 

From these preliminary observations, I proceed to 
consider the beneficial tendency of the Gospel in a few 
distinct particulars. 

The general benefits procured to the world by 
Christianity are very important, and such as nothing- 
else any where received under the name of religion 
has produced. For a code of duties like that contain- 
ed in the Gospel is not limited in its effects to those 
who admit its divine authority. The existence of 
such a rule, and far more the existence of persons 
obeying it, has a general influence extending even to 
those who might seem removed beyond its reach ; as 
the sun softens and brightens every object in the land- 
scape, and not those alone upon which its rays direct- 
ly shine. In this way a general improvement of ha- 
bits has followed the progressive diffusion of the Gos- 
pel. The inhuman sports of the Roman amphithea- 
tres were gradually discontinued: the most savage 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



281 



Features of war have been softened: crimes of particu- 
lar heinousness have become disgraceful in general 
opinion: the female sex has been raised to its just 
level in. society: the duty of benevolence has been 
more commonly recognised and practised. Further, 
the severity of parental rule has been controlled; the 
barbarous custom of infanticide abolished; the system 
of domestic slavery has ceased, which subjected the 
greater part of mankind to the caprice and tyranny of 
a few freeborn masters, 'who regarded and treated the 
rest as inferior beings. These effects cannot with any 
justice be attributed to the progress of reason and ci- 
vilization; because they are, in most instances, effects 
which directly proceed from the new views of the na- 
ture and destination of man unfolded by the Gospel; 
and further, because this improvement of moral habits 
exists in countries very far inferior in literature and 
the arts to the nations addicted to those habits which 
Christianity discountenanced ; and because it follows 
the course, and accompanies the growth of Christi- 
anity ; being more and more visible as that is more 
and more received ; and being most visible where 
Christianity is best understood, and embraced most 
cordially. 

These effects of the religion have been often set 
forth at large ; and every fresh example of its pro- 
gress gives accumulated weight to the evidence aris- 
ing from them. Instead of contenting myself with 
this general view, 1 shall descend to a few particulars, 
A a 2 



2S2 



ON THE EFFECTS 



and consider the admirable adaptation of the Gospel to 
the exigencies of mankind individually. 

I. There is a provision in the Gospel for comfort- 
ing affliction. If a revelation is to be suited to the 
circumstances of human life, this quality must be 
amongst its indispensable requisites. Events occur in 
the lives of most persons : the whole life of others 
is of such a nature, as to admit of but one real com- 
fort; namely, the assurance, that they make part 
of a scheme which may prove the entrance to eternal 
glory. Those who disbelieve revelation are exposed 
to the same trials as other men; but what consolation 
belongs to the supposition that their afflictions are part 
of a general scheme, which the Creator has ordained 
as best upon the whole? The Deist who is brought 
into misfortune, has no assurance that it may not be 
the Divine pleasure to afflict him. The Atheist who 
is worn down by sicknesss, can- only suppose that the 
general laws by which the world is governed bring that 
sickness upon him without remedy and without com- 
pensation. And although partial evil may be univer- 
sal good; it is difficult to cherish such enlarged bene- 
volence as to feel satisfied that the partial evil should 
fall upon ourselves. The Gospel, however, speaks a 
very different language. It supplies an effectual com- 
fort to the severest pain or the heaviest bereavement, 
by assuring the Christian that he is the object of ten- 
der interest and everlasting care; that he has a pro- 
tector full of kindness and full of power, who will 
cause all things to contribute towards his spiritual good 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



283 



and eternal welfare. The Deist may be patient, no 
doubt, in acquiescence on supreme Providence; the 
Atheist may be silent, from a conviction of the use- 
lessness of repining; but to call on either to rejoice 
in suffering, would be cruelty and folly. The apos- 
tles, however, following the example of their Master, 
not unfrequently use this strong exhortation to Chris- 
tians, that they should glory in tribulation ;* that they 
should count it all joy when they fall into divers tri- 
als ;t that they should deem themselves happy, if they 
suffer for righteousness' sake;! knowing that their 
light affliction, which is but for a moment, should 
work for them a far more exceeding and eternal weight 
of glory. § And the consolation thus furnished, is not 
imaginary, but real and substantial. It converts, in 
many instances, the most afflictive dispensations into 
a source of positive rejoicing. It lends a support to 
sickness and pain, which makes them appear more de- 
sirable than health itself. Incredible as this may sound 
to those who are strangers to the personal influence of 
Christianity; to those who have either experienced 
or witnessed it, it is a matter of certainty and reality, 
in which they cannot be mistaken. 

It may be thought, indeed, that the incarnation of 
the Son of God was not required for a purpose like 
this; which might have been sufficiently answered by 
an assured declaration of the immortality of the soul, 



* Rom. v. 3. 

* 1 Pet. iii. 14, 



| James, i. 2. 
§ 2 Cor. iv. 17. 



284: 



ON THE EFFECTS 



and a better world to come. Neither do we pretend 
that the alleviation of earthly afflictions would have 
afforded an adequate cause for a design so wonderful. 
But experience proves, that the indisputable assurance 
of the good will of God towards men, declared by the 
mission of his Son; and the belief that he took upon 
himself our nature, and lived on earth as u a man of 
sorrows," to a degree far beyond what any of his fol- 
lowers are called to imitate him in, — ministers a sup- 
port to the Christian, when suffering under affliction, 
which no other contemplation would enable him to 
realize.* The whole dispensation is represented as 
one of pity and love. And we must believe, if it was 
divine, that all its consequences were foreseen and in- 
tended, as well as the one great consequence of calling 
men to repentance, and rescuing them from condem- 
nation. Such beneficial effect, indeed, does not prove 
it to have been divine. But it adds something to the 
probabilities, on which its proper evidence is grounded. ' 

II. Wherever the Gospel is made known, a regu- 
lar provision exists for establishing religion in the 
world ; that is, for bringing men to live in the know- 
ledge and fear of God. Legislators in former times 
endeavoured to maintain a religious principle, con- 
fessedly for the sake of the public good. In order to 
establish this with additional authority, they pretend- 
ed to be under the guidance of vistons and revela- 

* The frequent use of this argument by the apostles shows that 
they were well aware of its powerful influence, See 1 Pet. iii. 18. 
IV. 1. 2 Cor. viii. 9. Heb. ii, 17, iv. 15, 18, &c. &c. 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



235 



tion ; and even the philosophers, who laughed at the 
popular superstitions, were still unwilling to demolish 
them, for want of something better in their stead. 

Perhaps a conviction of this has been unfavourable 
to the interests of revelation, by causing it to be re- 
ceived with suspicion. It is understood, that a prac- 
tical belief of Christianity will render men more con- 
tented subjects, and more diligent and useful members 
of society. Regulated by a rule more universal than 
that of any human laws, they will be restrained in 
circumstances to which the power of the civil magis- 
trate does not extend; and directing their thoughts 
mainly to a state beyond the present, they will not be 
easily drawn to interfere with government, or join 
the party of those who " are given to change," ex- 
cept in cases of extreme necessity. This undeniable 
fact has introduced a vague idea of some mutual un- 
derstanding between the State and Christianity, and 
their reciprocal dependence upon each other. Whereas 
the Gospel was first introduced, and has often greatly 
flourished, in despite of bitter opposition from the 
ruling powers. We do not indeed deny that the state 
may benefit religion, or that religion may benefit the 
state ; but we do deny that it ought to be imputed as a 
blemish to a divine revelation, if it contributes to the 
present advantage of mankind, and forms the strongest 
cement of civil society. In proportion as a serious ar- 
gument would be raised against its authority, if its 
effects were different ; an additional testimony is esta- 
blished in its favour, when ife enforces salutary re- 



2S6 ON THE EFFECTS 



straints to which men are not naturally inclined to 
conform. 

If, then, it is desirable, as I may venture to assume, 
that men shall be governed by religious principles, 
Christianity is beneficial, inasmuch as, wherever it 
exists, it is constantly exerting a secret influence to 
this end. It provides that the child, from its very birth, 
should be dedicated to the service of God ; not left to 
discriminate right from wrong by the slow process of 
observation, or the uncertain light of reason ; not left 
to pursue its natural bent, and strengthen passions by 
indulgence, that they may be afterwards imperfectly 
and reluctantly subdued ; but made acquainted, at the 
dawn of reason and entrance of life, with the course to 
be pursued, and the conduct to be shunned. It pro- 
vides for his understanding, from the first, the busi- 
ness and object of the present life, the real purpose of 
man's being. That the scene of this world is not final, 
but preparatory, if true, is the most important fact 
conceivable to every individual who bears a part in it. 
It is, therefore, most important that it should be 
known. Christianity makes it known ; and by so do- 
ing, requires that the conduct should be regulated ac- 
cording to that conviction. 

The duties, indeed, are often neglected, which can 
alone render such provisions effectual ; they are 
neglected by parents, masters, and other superiors, 
whose business it is to teach these truths; and they 
are reluctantly received or listened to by those whose 
business it is to act upon them. But the religion it-' 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



self orders otherwise, and is not in fault if its directions 
are disobeyed ; which, if universally followed, and 
willingly heard, would render every being in a Chris- 
tian country a disciple of Christ, and consequently a 
servant of God, and an heir of a blessed immortality. 

Christianity, moreover, is constantly holding forth 
an encouragement to whatever things are honourable, 
just, and pure ; and discountenancing every thing 
which tends to public injury, or private degradation. 
Whatever wickedness is committed in a Christian 
country, is committed in defiance of known obliga- 
tions. Whatever irreligious conduct is practised, is 
practised in defiance of warning, instruction, and usu- 
ally of conscience ; unless the conscience has been 
blunted by continual neglect of its admonitions. 
Strong as the workings of passion are, and widely as 
the force of natural corruption prevails, still these 
checks must operate as a restraint, and weaken the 
impulse which refuses to be entirely controlled. We 
regret that the effect is less complete ; but without dis- 
pute it is, as far as it goes, altogether beneficial. 

Further still, Christianity is issuing a constant sum- 
mons to repentance. It declares what course of life 
the Creator of the world approves, and requires of his 
creatures, and the reverse of which he will not suffer 
them to pursue with impunity. But it delivers even 
this assurance in language suited to the actual charac- 
ter of human nature. It does not involve the disobe- 
dient in despair, by representing a return to favour as 
impossible. Qn the contrary, it affirms, that God will 



288 ON THE EFFECTS 1 

accept a change of heart, and treat the penitent as if 
he never had offended. 

Indeed among the leading peculiarities of the Gos- 
pel must be reckoned the freedom of admission to all 
its privileges which it offers to the penitent, whatever 
may have been the degree or the nature of his trans- 
gressions. This is part of the original system ; and 
conspicuously held forth as such in several remarka- 
ble parables. That of the lost sheep pourtrays in lively 
colours the way in which the consequences of sin and 
the necessity of repentance are brought home to the 
conscience, under the ministrations of the Gospel ; 
and those who have long remained in a thoughtless 
irreligious state are restored, through the atonement 
of Christ, to the divine favour.* The prodigal son 
describes the career of profligate dissipation which too 
many run, even of those who have been early taught 
by a Christian education to know the demands of God 
upon their service. It frequently happens, that these, 
in the day of affliction or adversity, consider the des- 
titute estate to which they are reduced by departing 
from the God of their youth ; having lost their earthly 
happiness, and finding nothing in its stead. t The wil- 
lingness of God to receive, and assist, and complete 
their repentance, and to number tiiem among his fa- 
vourite children, is openly and explicitly declared. 
The parable of the labourers who are sent into the 
vineyard at different hours of the day, agrees with all 



* Luke, xv. 3—7. 



f'Luke, xv. 11 — 32. 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



289 



experience as to the different periods of life in which 
religious impressions are made upon the mind ; and 
summons every age to the service of God by the 
strongest incitement, the assurance of acceptance and 
reward.* These and other parables to the same pur- 
pose exemplify the leading and peculiar argument of 
the Crospel ; — repent, and be forgiven, for the price of 
your redemption has been paid. 

The suitableness of this to the condition of human 
nature will hardly be disputed. If the favour of God 
were limited to those who have continued steadfast in 
their allegiance, and made his laws the guide of their 
youth and life, mankind must either be a different 
race of beings, or the divine favour confined to a very 
small number. We cannot imagine a revelation which 
did not require a righteous and holy life. But we can 
conceive a revelation which allowed no repentance for 
an unrighteous or unholy life; while at the same time 
we see that such a revelation would be a source of 
despair rather than of comfort ; would not be available 
to creatures like mankind; would confirm some in 
their sinful state, through want of inducement to re- 
formation ; and would condemn others to a hopeless 
remorse, when they reflected upon irretrievable trans- 
gression, and looked forwards to inevitable punish- 
ment. Considering the condition in which men are 
actually placed, by birth, circumstances, and irregular 
education, often conspiring to add fuel to a corrupt 



Matt. xx. 1— 16. 
Bb 



ON THE EFFECTS 



nature; we cannot hesitate to allow, that a revelation 
which admits repentance, and contains a covenant of 
pardon, is the one most beneficial to mankind. 

We could not indeed call it beneficial, if that, which 
offered comfort to transgressors, proved an encourage- 
ment to sin. Ancl some, in all ages, have brought 
this charge against Christianity : arraigning it on this 
very ground, as a religion which holds out an amnesty 
to the worst offenders.* Others, even of its friends^ 
have shown a tacit acquiescence in this allegation, 
when they have systematically enforced the precepts 
rather than the doctrines of the Gospel, from the sup- 
posed danger of encouraging mankind to the abuse of 
mercy by the display of mercy. But Jesus " knew 
what was in man" better than those who call his wis- 
dom in question: and founded his religion on the 
surest principles of expediency. Suppose the case, 
of a part of the inhabitants of a country in rebellion 
against their lawful sovereign : the object is, to reduce 

* Celsus complained, that " Jesus Christ came into the world to 
make the most horrible and dreadful societies ; for he calls sinners, 
and not the righteous : so that the body he came to assemble is a 
body of profligates separated from good people, among whom be- 
fore they were mixed. He has rejected all the good, and collected 
all the bad." 

" True, 5 ' says Origen, " our Jesus came to call sinners : — but to 
repentance. He assembles the wicked: — but to convert them into 
new men ; or rather, to change them into angels. We come to 
him covetous, he makes us liberal ; unjust, he makes us equitable ; 
lascivious, he makes us chaste; violent, he makes us meek; im- 
pious, he makes us religious." — See Origen contr. Cels.l. iii 59. 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



291 



them to order and obedience; and how would that 
object most probably be answered ; which would be 
the method most promising success; to make a public 
declaration of the duties of subjects, accompanied with 
a denunciation of grievous penalty against all who had 
violated them; or to issue a proclamation of amnesty 
to all who should*return to their allegiance and perse- 
vere in future loyalty ?* The method which, calmly 
considered, approves itself to our judgment, is the 
method pursued in the Gospel. And the method which 
approves itself to our judgment, is sanctioned by the 
results of our experience ; and wherever it is simply 
acted upon, is daily swelling the triumphs of the 
Gospel with new converts to the service of God. 

In this manner a constant experiment is in operation, 
wherever the Gospel is preached or read, upon the 
moral faculties. It is going on from youth to age ; 
employing every motive by which the human heart 
can be swayed, and using every means by which it 
can be governed: teaching, exhorting, inviting, en- 
couraging.. No wiser system can be imagined, for 
beings naturally disposed to evil, and placed in cir- 
cumstances of temptation. We can easily figure to 
our imaginations men differently constituted, or more 
securely fenced in. But for such moral agents as 
mankind actually are, we can desire no fitter dispen- 
sation. 

* This illustration occurs in a preface, by Mr. Erskine, to a re- ' 
cent edition of Gambold's works. 



292 



ON THE EFFECTS 



III. I consider it as a third point deserving particu- 
lar remark, that wherever the Gospel is established 
as the national religion, provision is made for elevating 
the general character of men, by raising them to a 
higher rank as intellectual beings. The condition of 
the bulk of mankind is inevitably poor and laborious; 
and we know the effect of poverty and labour, how 
they depress the mind, and keep it as it were stagnant., 
till it has neither inclination nor ability for reflection. 
Each succeeding generation is content to know what 
their fathers knew, and to practise what their fathers 
practised. The ennobling ideas of a supreme Creator, 
of spiritual worship and pious love to be exercised to- 
wards him, of an eternal state of happiness and pu- 
rity ; — these ideas are far beyond them : their thoughts 
are chained down to-the earth by daily wants and la- 
borious occupations; and do not rise to higher things, 
except by the aid of some strong external impulse. 

And yet experience proves that mankind are capable 
of high spiritual advancement : that laborious poverty, 
the common lot of the multitude, though it prevents 
them from discovering, does not prevent them from 
receiving the greatest and noblest truths ; and that 
employments whose natural tendency is rather to de- 
press than to elevate the mind, may yet be conducted 
on principles which dignify the lowest stations and 
the meanest pursuits. Few will venture to deny, that 
if men are capable of such improvement, it is desira- 
ble they should attain it, as exalting their rank in the 
scale of being. And this is effected by the agency of 



OF CHUISTI AMTY. 



293 



Christianity. From its first establishment, when the 
Apostles ordained elders in every church; Christianity 
has provided bodies of men, whose business it is to 
instruct the ignorant; to awaken them from torpor 
and stupidity; to rouse their attention to matters, of 
the highest dignity and importance.* Not to remove 
them from their stations and natural duties, which in- 
deed would be impossible if it were desirable, and 
undesirable even if it were possible; but to inculcate 
principles which may soften the roughest, and sweeten 
the bitterest, and exalt the humblest of human labours. 

Now all this is clear gain, and to be set to the ac- 
count of the Gospel. Nothing of the kind was ever 
known or thought of in ancient times, at least beyond 
the narrow limits of Judea.t We are apt to forget 

* The benefit of the Christian system, in this respect, was so 
evident to Julian, that he attributed the success^ of the religion in 
some measure to the sanctity and zeal of its ministers; and sup- 
posed, that by an imperial ordinance, he could command the same 
qualities in the heathen priests. — See his letter to Arsacius, in 
Sozomen, I. v. c. 16; or Lardner's Heath. Test. c. 46. 

f " Useful as we now know social religion to be to states and 
kingdoms, it is unlikely that any state should, merely b}' its own 
internal wisdom, have instituted a good church, with right provi- 
sions, laws, religious exercises, and discipline. Politicians would 
scarcely think of such a thing. Intent on wars, alliances, commerce, 
taxation, commodious passage of travellers, &c. ; religious society 
must come from religious ^zeal, though afterwards courted by the 
state." Hey's Lectures. If the state, even when administered by- 
professors of Christianity, can afford very little attention or support 
to the interests of religion ; we could hardly expect that it should 
step out of its way to establish, in the first instance, religious In- 
struction. 

B b 2 



.294 



ON THE EFFECTS 



this, and to consider advantages of this kind no less of 
course, than to enjoy the light and breathe the air of 
heaven. We are so generally accustomed to the in- 
struction of our people, in consequence of what Chris- 
tianity has done, that we forget to ascribe the benefit 
to Christianity. We have no idea of the mass of man- 
kind being wholly neglected ; being never exhorted 
to seek religious knowledge : still less of their seeking 
it in vain. But in the heathen world, there were none 
whose office it was to teach, even if there had been 
any who could have taught what it was most desirable 
to learn. Philosophical lectures were attended by 
some of the richer class; but by no others. One phi- 
losopher alone, of all w r e read of, seems to have been 
conscious of some moral obligation in the employment 
of his extraordinary talents;* and he addressed him- 
self to the higher ranks. Had it been otherwise, the 
philosophers in the several ages were but few ; so few, 
that supposing they were dispersed, and that every 
man had the liberty of attending them, we should be 
astonished to calculate the average distance which a 
person must have travelled in order to get instruction. 
Further, there could be no unity of doctrine, because 
there was no unity of opinion. t The very foundation 

* npcorov ftev Kepi, Qe&$ £7T£ipot]o <ra@povot<; 7rotsiv ra? (rvvovjcu;. 
— Xenoph. de Socrate. Memorab. 1. iv. c. iii. 

f "The matters wherein the philosophers differed, were points 
which concern the very being of religion and virtue ; and those 
differences rendered the motives and obligations to both, preca- 
rious and uncertain. And this shows how unjust the objection is 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



295 



ot religion is an intelligent Creator. Philosophers 
could not lay this groundwork, when they disagreed 
about the fact; some holding the world to be the work 
of chance, and others maintaining its eternity. They 
could not teach moral duties ; for besides that they 
were unsettled as to the nature and extent of these, 
the one great sanction of moral duty, the declaration 
of God's will, was necessarily wanting to their in- 
structions. They could not assert a future retribution, 
because none believed it 3 all wandering in universal 

which infidels raise upon this head from the different opinions 
among- Christians, It will appear, that the several denominations 
of Christians agree, both in the substance of religion, and in the 
necessary enforcements of the practice of it : that the world and 
all things in it were created by God, and are under the direction 
and government of his all-powerful hand and all-seeing eye : that 
there is an essential difference between good and evil, virtue and 
vice ; that there will be a state of future rewards and punishments, 
according to our behaviour in this life ; that Christ was a teacher 
sent from God, and that the Apostles were divinely inspired; that 
all Christians are bound to declare and profess themselves to be 
liis disciples ; that not only the exercise of the several virtues, but 
also a belief in Christ, is necessary in order to their obtaining the 
pardon of sin, the favour of God, and eternal life ; that the worship 
of God is to be performed chiefly by the heart, in prayers, praises, 
and thanksgivings ; and as to all other points, that they are bound 
to live by the rules which Christ and his Apostles have left in the 
Holy Scriptures. Here then is a fixed, certain, and uniform rule of 
faith and practice ; containing all the most necessary points of re- 
ligion, established by a divine sanction, embraced as such by all 
denominations of Christians, and in itself abundantly sufficient to 
preserve the knowledge and practice of religion in the world."—' 
Gibson's Second Pastoral Letter. 



£96 



ON THE EFFECTS 



scepticism, or being lost in vague conjecture. The 
public rites of worship, which the people did attend, 
were rather calculated to corrupt than to improve 
them ; and consisted wholly of ceremonies performed 
by the priests, without any moral exhortations or les- 
sons of duty.* 

Christianity, on the other hand, by means of its ac- 
credited agents, is constantly making an aggressive 
movement against that indolence and indifference re- 
specting all things not immediately present and visible, 
in which the minds of the generality are sure to re- 
pose when left to themselves. And the effect of this 
excitement is wonderfully powerful, notwithstanding 
the imperfect degree in which it necessarily acts from 
the nature of those who are the objects of its operation, 
and of those who are concerned in carrying it on, We 
can form a judgment of its power, and of the depend- 
ence of mankind upon it, from the ignorance and bar- 
barism which prevailed throughout Europe during that 
long and dark period when the Scriptures were virtu- 
ally sealed up, and the priests deserted their duty of 
instruction, at least of useful and evangelical instruc- 
tion. No sooner was the book of revelation again un- 
locked, and education promoted, and inquiry stimu- 
lated, and divine philosophy laid open to the people, 
than the faculties of mankind were sharpened, and 
their views enlarged, and a new order of things began 

* Besides Leland's "Advantage of Revelation," this subject is 
ably handled in Bishop Gibson's Second Pastoral Letter, and con- 
cisely touched on in Hey's Lectures, book i. ch, xix. 



OP CHRISTIANITY. 297 

"which has changed the face of Protestant Europe. On 
the same extensive scale we still discern the effect of 
this energy, in the difference between those countries 
where religious instruction is effectually afforded, and 
the Scriptures actually understood, and those which 
possess these advantages in an inferior degree, or in 
no degree at all. If a map could trace the real influ- 
ence of the Gospel, it would also delineate the pro- 
portion of intelligence and active virtue. The measure 
of spiritual ignorance and of spiritual knowledge is 
also the measure of barbarism and of civilization, of 
mental stupidity or mental illumination. 

But the case becomes stronger and clearer when we 
regard it on a more limited scale, and attend to the 
individual rather than the general effect; and perceive 
the difference which is made in a single district, or a 
single family, or even in a single character, wherever 
the declarations of the Gospel are faithfully believed. 

Looking towards the lower orders of society, we 
find that excess gives way to temperance; that pa= 
tience succeeds to discontent; that industry is pur- 
sued with cheerfulness ; that general good-will takes 
the place of envy and malice; and a kindly charitable 
feeling is exercised, not capriciously, but on princi- 
ple. Such is the first effect of religious influence, 
By degrees the faculties become "enlarged ; the mind 
possesses a grasp of which it had once seemed incapa- 
ble; the conscience, no longer insensible to right and 
wrong except in the most glaring cases, acquires a mo- 
ral acuteness which needs no rules of casuistry; and 



298 



ON THE EFFECTS 



the mind exhibits a clearness of perception, and a nice 
discrimination of truth and falsehood, which might 
appear to be the last result of philosophical investiga- 
tion, if it were not seen in those who have no leisure* 
for investigation, and no education in philosophy.* 

This is a proof both of the' excellence and truth of 
Christianity which its ministers necessarily enjoy be- 
yond others. When they observe the power which 
it has, and which nothing else has, of elevating the 

* " In LoskiePs account of the Moravian Missions among the 
North American Indians, I have found a striking illustration of the 
uniformity with which the grace of God operates upon vMn. 
Crantz, in his account of the Missions of Greenland, had shown the 
grace of God working on a man-fish : on a stupid, sottish, senseless 
creature, scarcely a remove from the fish on which he lived. Los- 
kiel shows the same grace working on a man-devil: a fierce, 
bloody, revengeful warrior, dancing his infernal war-dance with 
the mind of a fury. Divine grace brings these men to the same 
point. It quickens, stimulates, and elevates the Greenlander : it 
raises him to a sort of new life: it seems almost to bestow on him 
new senses ; it opens his eye and bends his ear, and rouses his 
heart ; and what it adds, it sanctifies. The same grace tames the 
high spirit of the Indian ; it reduces him to the meekness, and do- 
cility, and simplicity of a child. The evidence arising to Chris- 
tianity from these facts, is perhaps seldom sufficient, by itself, to 
convince a gainsayer; but to a man who already believes, it great- 
ly strengthens the reasons of his belief." — Cecil's Remains. 

These reflections, corroborated as they are by still more recent 
instances, are well worthy the consideration of such persons as ob- 
ject to the employment of missionaries in countries yet uncivi- 
lized. No engine of civilization has as yet been discovered which 
bears comparison with the Gospel, when preached in its native 
purity and simplicity. 



01 CHRIS"! I ANll V. 



£99 



mind and enlarging its faculties; when they see the 
Gospel prove to the sincere Christian a safe and ready- 
test of thought, discourse, and action; when they see 
it furnishing him with additional sources of gratitude 
in prosperity, and a never-failing consolation in sor- 
row; when they see it raising him to an elevation of 
thought and a consistency of conduct which lifts him 
above his natural rank, and all this the sole effect of 
Christian knowledge ; they possess an assurance of 
the divine origin of the religion, which is stronger 
than the soundest argument, and which the most ela- 
borate sophistry can never shake. This, indeed, is a 
proof which belongs chiefly to the teachers of Chris- 
tianity; and is a needful encouragement to them 
among many anxieties and disappointments. But al- 
though it is theirs principally, it is not theirs exclu- 
sively. Much satisfaction of the same kind is within 
the reach of every one who has ever beheld Chris- 
tianity in practical operation. 

I have been alluding to the lower orders, the great 
bulk of mankind. In the higher ranks, which have 
access to other modes of improvement and instruc- 
tion, the results of a Christian faith may seem less 
decidedly and evidently marked. But it will be 
found, on inquiry, that a comparative indifference to 
the honours and pleasures of the world, a sense of re- 
sponsibility concerning the employment of the vari- 
ous talents of time, wealth, and influence, an active 
charity, a spirit of humility and condescension, a live- 
ly interest in whatever regards the moral or temporal 



300 



ON THE EFFECTS 



welfare of others, belongs, in an eminent and singular 
degree, to the disciples of Christianity. We cannot 
contemplate such a character, without acknowledging 
its intrinsic excellence. But to make a fair estimate, 
we ought to compare this character with what would 
otherwise have existed in its stead : we ought to re- 
member, that, speaking generally, what is benevo- 
lence would have been selfishness; what is charity 
would have been indifference; what is lowliness 
would have been arrogance and pride; what is mode- 
ration would have been intemperate luxury, if the 
virtues had not been substituted for the vices through 
the influence of Christianity. 

These results are daily arising from the Christian 
religion, and have done so in a greater. or less degree 
from the period of its first promulgation. They are 
either the consequences of a design contrived by di- 
vine wisdom for the benefit of man, or the accidental 
effects of an imposture undertaken for no assignable 
motive by uneducated enthusiasts. But surely it con- 
tradicts all probability or experience, to believe that 
a scheme so vague and empirical as that of the apos- 
tles must have been, if they did not act upon divine 
authority, should have proved so suitable to mankind, 
so effectual towards the object which it professes, and 
so beneficial to the world at large. 

This, however, like every other difficulty which 
has been shown, in the preceding treatise, to embar- 
rass the hypothesis which ascribes Christianity to hu- 
niEui invention, vanishes at once when the divine ori- 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 301 

gin of the religion is admitted. We should then ex- 
pect that it would prove efficient for all those pur- 
poses which are actually answered by it; that it 
would console the anxieties, trials, and . sorrows to 
which human life is inevitably subject ; that it would 
provide for the dedication of the powers and faculties 
of mankind to the will and service of their Maker ; 
that it would propose a way for restoring the disobe- 
dient to his regard ; and further, that it should be 
found suitable to every age, and condition, and clt~ 
mate, and capable of improving the general character 
wherever it was received. And all this it is con- 
stantly effecting. Systems confessedly of human ori- 
gin make no approach towards these results. We see . 
no reason to wish all men Stoics ; or all men Epicu- 
reans; or all men Mohammedans; or all men poly- 
theists; or all men Atheists. But no one who has 
ever witnessed, with impartial eyes, the operation 
of Christianity in a single family, or a single in- 
dividual, can resist the inference, that if the spirit of 
the Gospel were universal, and all men were practical 
Christians, there would be little left to complain of 
even in this imperfect world. 



c c 



302 



CONCLUSION 



CHAPTER XIIL 
Conclusion. 

The preceding chapters have been intended to esta- 
blish a strong moral evidence of the truth of Christi- 
anity. Whether we consider the doctrines introduced 
by its Author: — their originality in his nation; their 
originality in tho world j — -and yet the confirmation 
which they receive from many singular facts, singular 
enactments, and minute prophecies contained in the 
Jewish Scriptures : — Or whether we consider the in- 
ternal evidence of the Christian writings; their lan- 
guage; their anticipation of conduct subsequently de- 
veloped, and their general wisdom : — Or whether we 
consider the peculiar character formed under the in- 
fluence of Christianity; its excellence in individuals; 
its beneficial effects upon mankind ; and its suitable- 
ness to their condition as dependent and corrupt be- 
ings : — Or whether we consider the rapidity with 
which a religion so pure, so self-denying, so humili- 
ating, and so uncompromising, was propagated and 
embraced, even in the face of bitter hostility: — we 
have phenomena which nothing, except the truth of 
the religion, can adequately explain. Except on this 
supposition, it would be difficult to account for any 
one of these several facts. But either we must believe 
that not one only, but all of these improbable facts 



CONCLUSION. 



concur to deceive us:— or Jesus Christ did appear in 
••he world, and bear the character which he claimed of 
Mediator between God and man:— did suffer the 
penalty due to human transgression; — and does re- 
deem from that penalty as many as " receive him," 
and commit themselves to his care.* 

It must be always borne in mind, that this is the 
assertion made throughout the Gospel. Jesus is either 
the Redeemer of the world, or he is nothing. That 
he professed to be. That his supernatural birth, his 
miraculous power, his peculiar death, his predicted 
resurrection, were designed to prove him. Unless 
then he is that, his professions are untrue, and the 
whole authority of his religion falls to the ground. 
We cannot distinguish between his doctrines and his 
precepts. We cannot deny his mysterious divinity 
and retain his moral supremacy. Not to insist upon 
the undoubted fact, that the precepts and the doctrines 
are connected together, and depend upon one another: 
. — why should we practise sobriety; why enforce pu- 
rity, or humility, or any other characteristic of Chris- 
tianity, because it is recommended by Jesus of Naza- 
reth, unless Jesus of Nazareth were indeed the Son of 
God, and requires these graces as a preparation for 
that future kingdom which hje came to reveal, and 
offers to his followers? 

* " As many as received him, to them gave he power to be= 
come the sons of God, even to them that believe in his name." — ■ 
John, i. 12. 



304 



CONCLUSION. 



What, therefore, the preceding evidence proves, if 
it prove any thing, is, that the Gospel is a message 
of reconciliation from God to man, proposed by Christ 
in the character of their Redeemer. And what those 
reject, who are not living as the disciples of Christ by 
a vital and practical faith, is the offered means of res- 
toration to the favour of their Creator. 

Perhaps it may be thought, that if the responsibility 
were so awful, the evidence would be more irresisti- 
ble. 

1. But in answer to this, it must be remembered, 
that if the Christian scriptures are true, and give a 
faithful account of the mission of Christ and its design, 
the evidence of it which we actually possess is the 
only conceivable evidence by which it could be con- 
firmed to us. Jesus could not have put on human na- 
rure, or have suffered the punishment of human trans- 
gressions, in every country, and in every age. Yet/ 
unless he had done so, unless he had been personally, 
seen by every individual who might be required to 
believe in him, the rest of the world, those who were 
not witnesses of his incarnation, must have received 
the reveiation on exactly the same evidence as declares 
it to us now; that is, on human testimony. If the 
eighteenth century were substituted for the age of 
Augustus, if any country of the world were substituted 
for Judea, all but the comparatively few inhabitants 
of that country which might be chosen for the scene 
of his appearance, must receive by report what they 
could not possibly learn from ocular demonstration. 



CONCLUSION. 



305 



So that the assertion sometimes hazarded, that if God 
made a revelation at all, he would render its truth in- 
disputable to every individual, is to assume the fact 
in question; to assume that Christianity is not true; 
since it is impossible that such a revelation as that of 
the Gospel should be communicated in any other way 
than that in which we have actually received it. 

Will it be argued, that for that very reason Chris- 
tianity cannot be true ? Surely not. Because as the 
sort of evidence which assures us of Christ's incarna- 
tion is the same evidence as that on which we act in 
every other concern of life, it may reasonably be taken 
as the proper evidence of religion. In order to be 
certain of the existence of America or India, I do not 
require the countries to be set before my eyes; it is 
enough if I possess the testimony of those who have 
visited and seen them. Indeed, there are few affairs 
of common life in which we are not obliged to shape 
our course, as best we may, through conflicting tes- 
timony. Here there is no conflicting testimony. I 
am not aware that any counter-evidence can be ad- 
duced against the multiplicity of proofs in favour of 
Christianity. No one is able, no one pretends to be 
able to deny any one of the facts brought forward in 
the preceding chapters. Nor can any facts be alleged 
against them. Nothing can be alleged except the sup- 
posed improbability of this or of any other revela- 
tion; a ground of argument which we at once perceive 
it must be extremely dangerous to admit in opposition 
to positive circumstances, even if the argument were 
C c 2 



306 



CONCLUSION. 



stronger in itself than it has appeared to be on reasona- 
ble consideration.* 

2. But, further, the very fact that the proofs of 
Christianity are to be sought with pains and ascer- 
tained by diligent inquiry, is in favour of its truth, 
because it is a fact which harmonizes with the gene- 
ral character of the divine government. 

This is manifest, on the most superficial view. The 
truth which forced itself upon the mind of the heathen 
poet, whilst contemplating the labours of agriculture, 
and the obstacles which impede their success : 

Pater ipse .colendi 
Haud facilem esse viam voluit : 
Nec torpere gravi passus sua regna veterno;f 

is a truth which meets us at every turn in our survey 
of the world. Without experience, we should doubt- 
less consider it improbable that so large a proportion 
of life would be occupied in obtaining such education 
as is necessary to the useful employment of the re^ 
mainder. Yet we do not, on this account, suppose it 
io be the design of God that men should not improve 
their faculties by education. Without experience, 
again, we should hardly be led to imagine that by far 
the greatest portion of the human race, in every age, 
and country, and state of civilization, would be obliged 
to devote their time to the? providing of food and 
clothing. We should expect that wants so universal 
and so indispensable would be supplied in some easier 



* See ch» ix 0 



f Virg. Georg, i, 121. 



CONCLUSION". 



307 



manner. Yet no one is guilty of the absurdity of ar- 
guing, that if God had intended his creatures to be fed 
and clothed, he would have rendered food and raiment 
more readily procurable. It seems to me no way more 
extraordinary, that men must study the proofs of re- 
ligion in order to be convinced of its divine authority,* 
or the nature of religion in order to live conformably 
to it ; than that a man must think, and forecast, an^ 
labour through at least twelve months, before he can 
procure for himself the materials of a day's clothing, 
or of a single meal suited to a state of civilization. 

The metals and other mineral productions so useful, 
and almost indispensable to mankind; — the sciences 
by which their nature is so highly improved ; — and in 
particular the knowledge of medicine, which is often 
necessary to preserve and continue their existence ; — 
are all obvious instances of the late discovery and te- 
dious or difficult acquisition of things in the highest 
degree desirable to man; and fully justify the conclu- 
sion, that if pains must be used for the right under- 
standing of religion, nothing appears in that dispensa- 
tion contrary to the usual and acknowledged system of 
Divine Providence. 

3. I shall only observe further, that to argue as if 
the proofs of a revelation must necessarily be intuitive 
or self-evident, is to assume that man is not, and can- 
not be placed in a state of probation. If he is in such 
a state, he may be tried by the disposition of his mind 



See, howeve% a reiaark in Preface, p. iii, 



SOS 



CONXLUSION. 



towards religion, as well as in any other way. We 
freely acknowledge the necessity, that the evidences 
of a divine revelation should appear, on a candid ex- 
amination unanswerably strong; and few, I apprehend, 
will deny this with respect to the evidences of Chris- 
tianity. But it is not necessary that these proofs 
should be flashed upon every mind, as in the case of 
€t. Paul, with the rapidity of lightning; so that a 
man should have no more power over his creed, and 
consequently no more responsibility concerning it, 
than he has to determine his complexion, or the coun- 
try in which he shall he born. 

And the mode, in which the Christian religion must, 
be listened to, in order that it may be received, and 
studied in order that it may be understood, is well cal- 
culated to bring into exercise that disposition of mind 
which is suitable to a being in circumstances like those 
of man, applying to the subject of religion. This is 
not a disposition which makes no inquiry, or demands 
no evidence, or feels no hesitation ; but which con- 
fines evidence to its proper business of ascertaining 
facts; and does not so lend itself to prejudice, or ad- 
here to prepossessions, as virtually to exclude revela- 
tion, and make its own religion. This is the disposi- 
tion with which the whole subject of religion must be 
approached; not the evidences only, which lead us to 
the threshold of the temple; but the Bible itself, which 
conducts us within the vestibule. We must guard 
against a critical, captious spirit. We must be aware 
that the ways of God are far aljove out of our sight ; 



CONCLUSION 



309 



and be ready to receive divine instruction with the 
humility and teachableness of the tenderest years. 
Surely there is enough of ignorance and enough of 
evil discoverable in the mind of man, to show that 
he needs illumination from above, and to set him upon 
earnest prayer to the Author of " every good and per- 
fect gift," that in matters relating to God and to eter- 
nity, he may be enabled to exercise his understanding 
humbly, and with proper deference to divine wisdom, 
Those who inquire thus will find the Bible its own 
best evidence; carrying with it marks of divine origin, 
which can neither, perhaps, be easily described nor 
accurately defined; but are not the less indisputable 
and infallible. Reason would lead us to expect what 
experience uniformly proves ; that " the secret of the 
Lord is with them that fear him, and he will show 
them his covenant."* 



* Psalm, xxv. 14. 



THE E?TO 9 




PUBLISHED AXD FOR SALE 



BY ANTHONY FINLEY, 

At the N. E. corner of Chesnut and Fourth streets, 

PHILADELPHIA. 

The PRESBYTERIAN CONFESSION OF FAITH— The Con- 
stitution of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of Ame- 
rica: containing the Confession of Faith, the Catechisms, and the 
Directory for the worship of God ; together with the plan of Go- 
vernment and Discipline, as amended and ratified by the General 
Assembly at their session in May, 1821. Price gl 25, and 75 cts. 

The REFUGE, By the Author of " The Guide to Domestic Hap- 
piness." Third American edition, §1 00. 
Mr. Finxet, 

The little volume entitled " The Refuge," is, in my judgments 
excellent. The subject is the justification of a sinner by the grace 
of God, through the" redemption that is in Christ. The work is in 
the form of letters, addressed to a young female under serious con- 
cern of mind, about the salvation of her soul. It comprises much 
in a small compass, well arranged and happily expressed ; and I 
scarcely know a work more likely to be useful to persons who are 
seriously inquiring what they must do to be saved. It is manifestly 
the author's aim to direct the awakened soul to Christ crucified, 
risen, and exalted to give repentance and remission of sins as its 
cnly Refuge. Respectfully vours, &c. 

WILLIAM NEILL, D. D. 
Pastor of the Sixth Presbyterian Church, Philada, 

The GUIDE TO DOMESTIC HAPPINESS, gl. 

REMARKS on the INTERNAL EVIDENCE for the Truth of 
Revealed Religion. By T. Erskine, of Edinburgh, 50 cts. 
ERSKINE'S ESSAY ON FAITH, 50 cts. 

THE ADVANTAGE AND NECESSITY OF THE CHRIS- 
TIAN REVELATION, shown from the State of Religion in the An- 
cient Heathen World, &c. By John Leland, D. D. Author of a "View 
of the Deistical Writers." '2 vols. 8vo. g6 50. 

REFLECTIONS ON PRAYER, and on the Errors which may 
prevent its Efficacy. By Hannah More. Third American Edition. 
Boards 76 cts. bound 87 cents. 

MEMOIRS and REMAINS of the late Rev. CHARLES BUCK, 
author of " A Theological Dictionary," "Miscellanies," &c. con- 
taining Copious extracts from his Diary, and interesting Letters to 
his friends, interspersed with various observations explanatory and 
illustrative of his Character and Works. By John Stvles, D. D. 
Boards gl 25, bound gl 50, 



GETHSEMANE, or Thoughts on the Sufferings of Christ. By 
the author of the " Guide to Domestic Happiness," and " The Re- 
fuge." Boards 88 cents, bound jgl 12£. 

A new and elegant GENERAL ATLAS, containing 60 Maps, 
among which are maps of each of the United States, §10. 

A CLASSICAL ATLAS, elegantly coloured, containing a series 
of Select Maps from Wilkinson's Atlas Classica and Le Sage's His- 
torical Atlas, for the use of those studying Ancient History and 
Geography, in the seminaries of the United States — folio, bound §5. 

Specimen of the " Dictionary of Quotations," recently 
published by A. Finley. 

Impendam et expendar. Lat. " I will spend and be spent," in 
pursuit of this object. 

Imperium in Imperio. Lat. " A government existing under an- 
other government." This is the relation in which each of our 
States stands to the Federal government. 

Impotentia excusat legem. Lat. law maxim. " Impotency does 
away the law" — men in prison, idiots, and lunatics, are excused, 
from their inability, for the non-performance of acts, which the law 
requires of others. 

Indocii discant, ament me?ninisse periti. Lat. " The ignorant may 
learn, and the learned improve their recollection." — This is a mot- 
to frequently prefixed to works of a general and useful tendency. 

In extenso, Lat. " At large — in full." 

■ Ingenuas didicissejideliter artes. 

Emoilit mores t nec sinit esse feros Lat. Ovid. 

"To have studied carefully the liberal arts is the surest method 
of refining the grossness, and subduing the harshness of the human 
mind." 

In perpetuam rei memoriam. Lat. " To perpetuate the memory 
of the thing." 

In statu quo. Lat. "In the state in which." The condition of 
any nation, as to territorial possessions, at any previous time — with 
ante bellum, before the war commenced. 

Intervorem. Lat. "In terror" — as a warning. 

Je ne sais quoi. Fr. "I know not what." Used to express some- 
thing that will not admit of description. 

Jeu de mots. Fr. *' A play on words." Jen de 1 esprit. " A wit- j 
ticism." 

Judex damnatitr cum nocens absolvitur. Lat. " The judge is found 
guilty when a criminal is acquitted." 

Jure Divino. Lat. " By divine right." 

Jutticaridj. m est leg i bus -non exemplis. Lat. law maxim. " The * 
judgment miut be pronounced from law, not from precedents." j 



H 148 82 I 






0 




,** . • " « . 



: » 



^ ."^fe** . A- > M 

Deacidified using the Bookkeeper proces| 

*\p o ^wSavS' * ^> Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 1 

* & °» O > Treatment Date: August 2005 



-cr t * \'' * j> o^v* PreservationTechnologw 

>> * OF/fT??? * - ° •-SfoA^W «• A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 




1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 1606 
(724) 779-2111 



